Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/74024
article title tailored approach to value-based billing that aligned client priorities with pricing options. But it soon became clear that we would have to do even more. To attract and retain client work, Crowell & Moring understood that we had to educate ourselves about project management principles and apply them to our work. Moreover, to ensure that our diverse AFAs were profitable to the firm, and that they properly aligned with client expectations, we knew that we had to manage matters and resources in a more cost- effective, thoughtful way. Picking Process Over Technology We began a dialogue about developing a firmwide project management culture. We realized that not all attorneys will become skilled project managers by hearing about it during a partner meeting or even by participating in a single workshop. However, we believed it was imperative that all attorneys and paralegals understood at least basic principles of project management, and that they knew when to use it and how to find the resources needed to implement a project management approach. During the early meetings, several partners and committee members focused on finding an outside resource to implement project management within the firm. Many thought initially that the firm should invest immediately in software that would manage matters for them. There was also dialogue about whether we needed to hire experienced project managers to lead the individual working teams. To train our timekeepers, the easiest thing would have been to hire an outside consultant to interview a ILTA White Paper 29