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Legal Project Management and
Legal Process Improvement
Training and Certification
From the sole provider in the U.K and Ireland of training and certification approved by the International Institute of Legal Project Management.

What Is Legal Project Management (LPM)?

Legal Project Management is the application of project management to the delivery of legal services. 

Applying project management principles, tools and techniques to client matters helps legal service delivery teams improve the management of cost, pricing, risk, resources and client communications. 

How I Can Help You

Legal Project Management Training, Certification and Support

After completing one of my courses you will understand the key principles of legal project management, feel confident about putting them into action and become more able leading teams and driving legal project management roll-out in your organisation.

Legal project management training is for legal service professionals and professional project managers wanting to transition into legal services. Solicitors, barristers, costs lawyers, professional support lawyers, professional project managers looking to enter the legal service industry and legal industry consultants wanting to improve services to their clients have all been on my courses.

The International Institute of Legal Project Management (IILPM) certification is now widely recognised, with IILPM Legal Project PractitionersTM or Legal Project AssociatesTM  or Legal Process Improvement ProfessionalsTM working in more than 50 countries (and counting).  IILPM certification provides assurance to legal service organisations and their clients that IILPM graduates have a thorough understanding of legal project management and are competent to play leading roles in legal service delivery teams.

Legal Project Management Training Courses

I run two kinds of Legal Project Management Training courses.

  1. Public courses which are open to individual subscription and
  2. Private courses which I deliver at the request of legal teams.

All my public courses running during 2025 are IILPM LPM certification courses lasting either two days (Legal Project Associate certification – LPA), or three days (Legal Project Practitioner certification – LPP).

In summary the courses are

  • Based on the IILPM’s 4-Phase Legal Project Management Framework
  • Cover traditional (‘predictive’) project management techniques as well as Agile (‘adaptive’) techniques
  • Show students and their organisations how to develop their legal project management maturity
  • Have a lot of workshops and exercises so students get some guided practice at applying project management to legal matters.

Team based legal project management courses vary in duration – anything from 90 minute bite-sized sessions to 3 day IILPM certification courses.

I usually tailor course content to meet team requirements and I always encourage teams to provide me with scenarios of typical matters they run.  I then take teams through project based approaches for matter management using their scenarios.

An illustrative list of team based legal project management courses include:

  • Courses Lasting up to two hours for partners and senior management staff in law firms
  • Half day courses for practising solicitors
  • Courses for specific cohorts, such as potential partners and
  • Courses for in-house legal teams.

What Is Legal Process Improvement?

Legal Process Improvement can be defined as

A structured methodology for optimizing legal and business processes, so that legal professionals can deliver high-quality, cost-effective services in less time and with less effort.

The structured methodology most often chosen as a starting point for legal process improvement is Lean / Six Sigma.

As with project management, when process improvement methodologies meet real world demands of law firms and in-house legal departments, they need to be adapted to fit organisational culture, resourcing and process improvement maturity.

Legal Process Improvement Training Courses

I run two kinds of Legal Process Improvement Training courses.

  1. Public courses which are open to individual subscription and
  2. Private courses which I deliver at the request of legal teams.

All my public legal process improvement courses running during 2025 are IILPM LPM certification courses lasting two days (Legal Process Improvement Professional certification – LPIP).

All these courses are delivered using Zoom and collaboration platform, Miro.

In summary the courses cover:

  • Making an effective start with process improvement and maximising results from limited access to busy lawyers
  • Planning and delivering process improvement projects properly
  • Working with stakeholders
  • Process mapping – why, when and how to use process maps of various kinds.

Team based legal process improvement courses usually last one day (although some teams also elect to do two days’ training and become IILPM certified).

Most often teams ask me not to spend too much time on the detail of formal process improvement methods.  Their preference is to experience a structured approach towards understanding and improving their existing processes and creating new ones.

Teams do learn how to solve some of their immediate problems during the training, but the main goal of this training is to make sure the teams understand core principles and techniques of process improvement (including process mapping) and feel comfortable applying these to their process improvement projects after the course.

Testimonials

The scope of the training was significant, but Antony covered the training in real detail, splicing the theory with decent interactions around participants experiences' in work.

James Woodham, Legal Project Manager
Eversheds Sutherland
The legal process improvement course was fantastic.…
Jordan Murphy, Knowledge & Information Specialist
Penningtons Manches Cooper

Antony is a great facilitator.  He made the three day course enjoyable and the engagement exercises were informative and great for idea sharing.

Jan Cruickshank, Expert Support Consultant
HKA
A great introduction to LPI and the tools needed to successfully deliver an LPI project.…
Claire McNamara, Partner
Penningtons Manches Cooper

I would like to thank you for the great training yesterday. It was what I had hoped for and I think it has provided us with the necessary techniques to…

I found the Legal Process Improvement Professional (LPIP) course hugely beneficial. Having started the course with no prior knowledge, I now feel confident in starting my next project. I found…

The three days achieved exactly what I was looking for – to pull together various bits of disparate knowledge and thinking, and to reassemble them into something more structured and coherent…
Andrew Smith, Head of Group Legal Services
Allied Irish Bank
The collaborative nature of the training run by Antony allowed me to engage with peers from diverse backgrounds…
Magdalena Papiernik-Konig, Partner
Kochanski and Partners
The Legal Process Improvement Professional (LPIP) is an excellent course with lots of details…
Rosie Isaac, Process Improvement Executive
True Solicitors

I have completed both Antony's Legal Project Management and Legal Process Improvement Courses, and having moved into a newly created Legal Project Management role I can say that the tools…

Sam Silsby, Legal Project Manager
BPE Solicitors, LLP
The three-day course with Antony was very enjoyable and rich in content…
Geraldine Riethmann, Legal Operations Advisor
OWLEGAL
I would definitely recommend the course for a detailed overview of legal project management and for upskilling…
Margaret Ivowi, Legal Contracts Manager
B and CE Holdings

A really informative and interesting course. Antony also provided great materials, as well as information, to be used on a day-to-day basis.

Mark Kitchen, Legal Solutions Manager
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP
Enlightening and useful course, mixing formality with the light touch of interaction within the workshops…
William Whawell
Auxilium Legal
The LPIP course covered a lot of really useful content...and I felt by the end of it that I had a great set of tools I could immediately put into practice…
Peter Boyce, Head of Case Presentation and Appeals
Nursing and Midwifery Council
I found Antony’s Legal Process Improvement course to be both engaging and insightful.…
Miranda Robertson, Knowledge Paralegal
Penningtons Manches Cooper
Clear explanations, slides and practical exercises – combined with delegates’ interaction – kept our interest levels high over the full two days of the LPIP course.…
Sarah Barrett-Vane (LPIP)
SBV Consulting
I recommend this course to everyone wishing to strengthen their skill base and be part of the future of legal service delivery.…
Sarah Keegan
CS Partnership
This course is worth 2 - 3 days of your time.…
Ijeoma Osuchukwu, Solicitor
The three-day course provides a comprehensive insight into legal project management and how legal project management techniques can be implemented effectively in practice…
Tyler McEwan, Costs Lawyer
I was slightly concerned about taking a course via Zoom but I needn’t have been, this method of training delivery worked very well…
Gaynor Paul, Project Manager
A very accessible and practical course which gave me confidence to start small and have a go…
Tarnya Mason, Associate Director, Real Estate
Pennington Manches Cooper
Excellent course. Provides a clear and in-depth introduction to legal project management…
Dean Robertson, Costs Consultant
Kingsley Napley
Many topics covered in the course are relevant and helpful to the practice areas I work alongside…
Dale Gibbons, Senior Associate (Costs Lawyer)
Kingsley Napley
Antony is very knowledgeable and excellent at conveying the key concepts of legal project management…
Samantha Jago, Costs Lawyer
Reed Smith LLP
Incredibly useful and informative. Well structured and kept me engaged, whilst progressing at a good pace…
Natalie Swales, Partner
Masters Legal Costs
Antony is a fantastic trainer, highly knowledgeable, very intelligent and with a great sense of humour which made the training very pleasant…
Christiana Aristidou, Partner, Head of International Business, Tax and IP Law
DEMOCRITOS ARISTIDOU LLC
Antony is an expert in his field. Highly recommended…
Michael Tyler, Partner, Head of Costs
Kingsley Napley
An intensive and informative course providing a solid grounding for would be legal project managers…
Simon Murray, Partner & Head of Costs Services
DWF
This is an excellent course that will provide you with all the necessary tools and information to integrate legal project management into your business…
Nicola Billen, Partner, Head of Insurance
asblaw
I would recommend this course to anyone interested in legal project management: informative, engaging and thought-provoking…
Paul McCarthy, Partner, Head of Costs
CFG Law
I feel confident I am leaving training with a sound understanding of the LPM methodology and how to implement it within the firm…
Charlotte Boswell, Costs Lawyer
Kingsley Napley
Fantastic course, both practical and technical…
Rebecca Jorgensen, Associate, Head of Employment
asblaw
Excellent course, well delivered.  The right level of coverage of core project management methodologies before moving on to legal project management…
Andrea Mulchrone, Associate & Deputy Operational Client Manager
DWF
I found the course very informative...I can't wait to put it into good practice…
Jemma Young, Project Manager
Burges Salmon
A very informative course held in a collaborative environment…
Lucy Handford, Managing Associate
Stevens and Bolton
As a project manager from outside the legal industry this course was a great introduction to project management in law…
Adam Holder, Head of Project Management
We engaged Antony to deliver a series of seminars about Legal Project Management. Feedback from members who attended was overwhelmingly positive about both the content and presenter…
Sue Nash, Former Chair
Association of Cost Lawyers
Antony's course is really well run and delivered. A good mix of teaching styles: lecturing and interactive workshops / discussion points…
Sarah Barrett-Vane
SBV Consulting
Excellent interactive course with lots of practical examples and tips that can be implemented immediately…
Emma Newby
Newby Legal Consulting
An excellent training program for anyone who wants to learn about legal project management…
Abilash Unny, Project Manager
Slater and Gordon LLP
Thought provoking and interesting. I look forward to putting it into practice and seeing the inevitable changes within the industry…
Nicola Sayers, Housing Development Legal Officer
Epping Forest District Council
I really enjoyed Antony's course. The concepts were well explained and illustrated with interesting practical examples…
Anna Sulowska, Legal Editor
Thompson Reuters
Antony is a smart and open-minded coach who clearly enjoys interaction with his students and I would be very happy to work with him again…
Harald Evers, Attorney at Law
KPMG Law, Germany
Excellent delivery of an innovative course.  Antony showed flexibility and responsiveness to student needs…
Stella Akpotoma, Senior Immigration Consultant
A course that provides a huge amount of insight and information but also makes you think very hard about how you do things and how you could do them better…
Katherine Bird, Director of Business Development
Hook Tangaza
Antony is knowledgeable and his passion for the topic was evident. The course itself has great content with lots of information, and I loved the book of templates…
Clare Collins, Head of Learning and Development
Global Law Firm
I thought the course was really good – I’ve covered some areas before, but it was great to have those areas refreshed and there was plenty that was new…
Katherine Milliken, Head of Practice Development
Macfarlanes
Antony provided training for my team on Legal Project Management. I highly recommend Antony's training…
James Barrett, Managing Associate
Practico Costs
Antony is a pleasure to work with and he has been a real asset to our business as we invest in further technology for the future benefit of our practice…
Fiona Morrison, Practice Manager
CFG Law
Antony has a strong understanding of both the legal process and IT systems. This enables him to produce very compelling solutions helping law firms to get real advantage and ROI…
Ian Wylie, Legal Workflow Developer
Langleys Solicitors
If you want to learn about the opportunities and challenges associated with implementing legal project management and legal process improvement, I’d recommend a half day session with Antony as an excellent starting point…
Adrian Livesley, Managing Partner
Birkett Long, Solicitors
Antony and I share similar views in relation to the application of IT to the law and he has real world experience of what the day job entails which informs his views in relation to IT…
Stuart Whittle, Partner, IT & Operations Director
Weightmans Solicitors
Antony is particularly good at looking at market and product ideas which lie slightly outside of business as usual - he is a thorough researcher and passionate advocate of his ideas and proposals…
Karen Taylor, Head of Product Management
LexisNexis
Introducing workflow systems into numerous departments and offices throughout the firm presented challenges on a number of fronts. Antony did an excellent job of managing these projects…
Martin Godfrey, Director
Firswood Consulting Ltd

About me – Antony Smith

I am a solicitor by training, with postgraduate qualifications in law, computing and project management. These have been supplemented by continued professional development in project management along with a successful record of project delivery.  I am a founding member of the International Institute of Legal Project Management (IILPM), and full member of the Association of Project Management (APM) and the Project Management Institute (PMI).

I have considerable experience of project management in all kinds of legal environments: solicitors firms (Pinsent Masons, Berrymans Lace Mawer), academia (School of Law, King’s College London) and legal software development organisations. I enjoyed working as a Strategic Project Manager at Axxia / LexisNexis for more than 10 years.

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