Overview
Our FredAdvantage program is designed to enhance the efficiency of legal services and focus on delivering value to our clients. It is the advantage we deliver through innovation, process improvement, pricing, project management and practice-related technology. With FredAdvantage we look to legal project management, legal process improvement, knowledge management and technology to create a foundation for strong results generated in a predictable, transparent and cost-effective manner. FredAdvantage incorporates project and process management tools already familiar to many of our business clients to ensure disciplined and client-centered legal matter management.
Within FredAdvantage we have multiple Legal Project Management (LPM) Certified managers. They implement LPM strategies to help our legal teams effectively manage their projects, resources, and timelines, thereby allowing them to stay on budget and on schedule. Applying LPM methodology to legal work allows us to gain valuable business insights by tracking key performance indicators, identifying areas for improvement, and leveraging data to make informed decisions.
One aspect of tracking key performance indicators is monitoring and controlling legal spend. We work to align our pricing options with the needs of our clients. This can take the form of hourly rate arrangements or Alternative Fee Arrangements (AFAs), including the use of fixed fees, volume discounts, blended rates, contingent fees, and retainer agreements, on top of developing an initial budget. Our goal is to find the right fit for our client and to develop a strong budget to track against throughout the life of the matter. Through this process we deliver price predictability and budget transparency for our clients.
Experience
Customized Deal Management System
The FredAdvantage team built a custom tool on the firm’s intranet to help our M&A transactional teams manage their deals, assign subject matter experts, and gather critical deal data points. This tool, which we call “Deal Manager,” facilitates communication among deal team members, streamlines information sharing, and improves the collection of deal data.
Streamlined Title Review Process
A client required a large push from our Energy practice team to review, organize and complete title review and curative drafting for a sizeable wind project. This process consisted of multiple steps to finalize the review and circulate drafted curative documents and required commitment from several team members across varying offices and practice groups. Through LPM strategies, we worked to break down the needed pieces for each review, isolate them into tasks and spread the work across varying offices through workflow coordination and automated reminders. This project formed the basis for additional process improvement projects.
Managing Through Uncertainty
Litigation is notoriously unpredictable, but by applying effective matter management a case team recently was able to minimize unpredictability and improve results for our client and the lawyers involved. Fredrikson's certified LPM and pricing managers worked with the team to coordinate details of the case, developing a project plan and budget that delivered enhanced communication across the team, budget forecasting, and efficient allocation of resources. The client was happy that there were no surprises and the case stayed on budget.
