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News You Can Use – November 2023

Ab Saraswat

Ab Saraswat

Lupl's News You Can Use
In this article

    As the year winds down and we prepare for the holiday season, we're grateful for the incredible feedback we've received from you—our users and the wider legal community. Your positive responses have validated our efforts and fueled our drive to make Lupl the go-to platform for legal project management.

    Lupl's new capabilities are already making waves in the industry, helping legal professionals manage their work more effectively and stay ahead of the curve. We were thrilled to hear much of this feedback from partners during last week's IBA Annual Conference in Paris. Here's a sampling of what we heard:

    • "I'm getting all my other partners to use it now." Partner, International Firm
    • "This is amazing! Incredible work. Can't wait to use it on my next matter." - Associate, International Firm
    • "Great to see the platform evolve so far in such a short period." - European firm

    So, what have we discovered? It's something you may already be aware of: the transformation of how lawyers and legal professionals operate is happening at an astonishing pace. At Lupl, our mission is to support and embrace this evolution.

    Read on to explore the latest industry news and how Lupl is being leveraged to increase profitability in law firms worldwide.👇🏼

    What's New in Lupl

    Our team has worked hard to improve your experience with Lupl and make getting work done frictionless. Here are the highlights of what we shipped recently.

    ✅ Endlessly Flexible Matter Management

    Seamlessly organize, manage, and execute distinct phases of matters with Lupl Workstreams. Customizable fields, dynamic sorting, and advanced filters empower you to tailor your approach, while scalability ensures you can meet the evolving demands of your clients.

    📃 Transformed Legal Project Coordination

    Revolutionize how you collect and organize vital information with Lupl Forms. Our no-code form builder automates and centralizes responses within Workstreams, eliminating the chaos of scattered emails and disconnected memos.

    🤖 Simplify Legal Projects with LuplAI

    Lupl’s AI saves you time and allows you to focus on your expertise while the technology handles the administrative heavy lifting. While other AI applications focus on content generation, LuplAI helps you capitalize on the experience and knowledge acquired from previous cases to create matter plans.

    Speak with our Sales team to learn more.

    Discover How Your Peers Are Utilizing Lupl

    Harness the power of Lupl to enhance your practice, unlocking higher levels of efficiency, client satisfaction, and profitability for your law firm. Our dedicated Success team has meticulously curated a comprehensive list of almost 100 use cases across various legal practices. Each month, we showcase a different use case to inspire and empower your practice.

    Lupl can be used to streamline the preparation of corporate due diligence, providing enhanced visibility, a boost to collaboration and teamwork, improved efficiency and profitability, and assist with risk and compliance management, which positions the firm to win more work.

    How it works:

    • Centralize all inputs in a fast-moving due diligence process within a single system.
    • Implement Matter Templates to ensure due diligence aligns with best practices and nothing gets missed.
    • Consolidate communication and documentation within the team for improved focus and organization.
    • Utilize Lupl Workstreams aid task management with enhanced visibility, deadline tracking, and task responsibility.
    • Pin the Data Room link to your Lupl Matter for easy access without excessive emails.
    • Utilize Lupl Forms for team members to use while preparing their contributions to the Due Diligence report, centralize inputs, and manage version control.
    • Notify team members of assigned tasks, upcoming deadlines, and mentions in matters through Lupl notifications.
    • Make documents actionable by commenting, assigning specific document tasks, and using custom tags.

    Have a use case you want to share? We would love to hear it. Check out our Use Case Library and submit yours today!

    📣 Calling all Early Adopters! 📣

    Don't miss your chance to be part of our early adopter program for Lupl's upcoming Virtual LPM (VLPM) feature!

    VLPM is your virtual legal project management assistant designed to revolutionize how you manage your legal matters. As we fine-tune this groundbreaking addition, we invite our users to get a first look by joining our early adopter program. If you're the type who loves to be at the forefront of legal tech innovation and offer constructive feedback, this opportunity is tailor-made for you! To express your interest in becoming an early adopter of VLPM, reach out to our Sales team.

    We're excited to refine this feature with your help, reshaping the future of legal project management together!

    IRL / URL

    A collection of interesting finds across the web (URL) and updates on where to meet with the Lupl team in real life (IRL).

    • Are fragmented legal tech stacks a recipe for failure? Our take - The legal industry is undergoing a technological revolution, but the abundance of products can lead to fragmented and disconnected tech stacks within legal departments, hindering efficiency. To address this, legal tech needs to prioritize interoperability, seamlessly integrating with existing tech stacks and offering all-in-one solutions. For mid-sized legal departments with simpler needs, bundled pricing and user-friendly technology are valuable. Interoperable tech reduces data silos and process gaps, providing a holistic view of legal matters. As the legal tech industry grows, more integrated platforms are expected to emerge, promising a bright future for the legal industry.

     

    • In-House Counsel Must Fuse Tradition and Technology for Success. Our take - Balancing legal tradition with technology in the legal field while preserving core values can be challenging. General Counsels are urged to prepare for the integration of technology, particularly with new graduates, to create a more effective and collaborative legal sector. The post suggests a list of legal traditions to preserve, including attention to detail, ethics, and the rule of law. Simultaneously, it advocates enhancing legal practices with technology to streamline processes, improve collaboration, and remain adaptable to new tools. The fusion of tradition and technology aims to meet client needs, improve service quality, and maintain ethical standards, fostering collaboration between experienced legal professionals and technologically adept newcomers to address evolving challenges in the field.

     

    • Building Trust in Legal AI Systems Through Audits. Our take - AI audits have gained significance in the legal field as AI technology is more deeply integrated into legal processes. These audits ensure that AI systems meet standards like transparency, fairness, safety, and compliance with regulations. In law and legal technology, AI audits can be conducted at various stages, including before deployment, post-deployment monitoring, triggered by specific incidents, regulatory requirements, annual or periodic reviews, and mergers or acquisitions. These audits are essential to uphold the integrity, reliability, and ethical use of AI systems in the legal sector, building trust and protecting individual rights.

     

    • Is AI about to transform the legal profession? Our take - This blog post discusses the legal industry's debate over the use of artificial intelligence (AI). It highlights the benefits of AI, such as automation and improved research, as well as concerns about bias and accountability. Legal professionals face the dual challenge of potential job reduction and ethical AI use. Law firms are exploring AI tools from providers like LexisNexis and Microsoft, but cost remains a concern. Some firms are considering non-legal AI platforms. Testing AI models is crucial to ensure performance, and companies like RobinAI combine AI with human oversight. AI's potential to democratize legal information and help individuals access legal tools is noted. However, legal challenges and transparency issues in AI usage are on the horizon.
    Upcoming legal events that Lupl will be participating in

    Building Better Habits with LPM

    Don't miss our upcoming webinar, "Build Better Habits with LPM," where our expert panelists will share actionable insights to elevate your legal project management game. Register now to learn nine simple yet impactful habits that can transform your time and task management in the legal field.

    💻 Online | November 14, 2023 | 11 AM EST / 4PM BST

    In this article

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      # Lupl Workstream Design Principles: A Practical Guide to Legal Project Management for Lawyers Legal project management works when your setup is simple, ownership is clear, and statuses are unambiguous. This guide shows how to turn existing processes and checklists into a lean, reliable Workstream. Lupl is the legal project management platform for law firms, making it easy and intuitive to apply these principles. It also supports moving your work from Excel, Word tables, or if you are transitioning from Microsoft Planner, Smartsheet, or Monday. You will learn what belongs in a Workstream, a Task, or a Step, and which columns to use. If you want practical project management for lawyers, start here. **Excerpt:** Legal project management works when ownership, dates, and statuses are clear. This guide shows lawyers how to turn checklists into Lupl Workstreams with the right columns, Tasks, and Steps. Use it to standardize project management for lawyers, reduce follow ups, and move matters to done. --- ## How to organize your work with Workstreams, Tasks, and Steps Workstreams, Tasks, and Steps are three different types of objects in Lupl. They form a simple hierarchy. Workstreams contain Tasks. Tasks may contain optional Steps. This hierarchy aligns with standard project management. In project management, you break work into projects, deliverables, and subtasks. Lupl adapts this for lawyers by using Workstreams, Tasks, and Steps. This makes it easier to map legal processes to a structure that teams can track and manage. * **Workstream.** Use when you have many similar or related items to track over time. Think of the Workstream as the table. * Examples: closing checklist, court deadlines, pretrial preparation, regulatory obligations, due diligence, local counsel management. * **Task.** A high level unit of legal work. A key deliverable with an owner and a due date. Tasks are the rows. * Examples: File motion. Prepare Shareholder Agreement. Submit Q3 report. * **Step.** An optional short checklist inside a single Task. Steps roll up to the parent Task. * Examples: Draft. QC. Partner review. E file. Serve. ### Quick test * If it can be overdue by itself, make it a Task. * If it only helps complete a Task, make it a Step. * If you need different columns or owners, create a separate Workstream. --- ## Do you need to track everything in Lupl Not every detail needs to be tracked in a project management system. The principle is to capture what drives accountability and progress. In Lupl, that means focusing on deliverables, not every micro action. * Use the level of detail you would bring to a weekly team meeting agenda. * Position Tasks as key deliverables. Treat Steps as optional micro tasks to show progress. * Example: You need client instructions. Do not add a Task for "Email client to request a call." Just make the call. If the client approves a key deliverable on the call, mark that item Approved in Lupl so the team has visibility. --- ## Start with the Core 5 columns Columns are the backbone of a Workstream. They define what information is tracked for each Task. In project management terms, these are your core metadata fields. They keep everyone aligned without overcomplicating the table. Keep the table narrow. You can add later. These five work across most legal project management use cases. 1. **Title.** Start with a verb. Example: File answer to complaint. 2. **Status.** Five to seven clear choices. Example: Not started, In progress, For review, For approval, Done. 3. **Assignee.** One named owner per row. If you add multiple assignees for collaboration, still name a primary owner. 4. **Due date.** One date per row. 5. **Type or Category.** Show different kinds of work in one table. Example: Filing, Discovery, Signature, Approval. **Priority.** Add only if you actively triage by priority each week. If added, keep it simple: High, Medium, Low. --- ## Add up to three Helper columns Lupl includes a set of pre made columns you can use out of the box. These allow you to customize Workstreams around different phases or stages of a matter. They also let you map how you already track transactional work, litigation, or other processes. Helper columns are optional fields that add context. In task management, these are similar to tags or attributes you use to sort and filter work. The key is to only add what you will update and use. Pick only what you will use. Stop when you reach three. * Party or Counterparty * Jurisdiction or Court * Phase * Approver * Approval, status or yes or no * Signature status * Risk, RAG * Amount or Number * External ID or Client ID * Document or Link * Docket number * Client entity **Guidance** * For Task Workstreams, prefer Approver, Approval, Risk. The rest are more common in Custom Workstreams. * Aim for eight columns or fewer in your main table. Put detail in the Task description, attachments, or Steps. --- ## Simple rules that keep your table clean Consistency is critical in project management. A cluttered or inconsistent table slows teams down. These rules ensure your Workstream remains usable and clear. * Only add a column people will update during the matter. If it never changes, set a default at the Workstream level or set a default value in the column. * Only add a column you will sort or filter on. If you will not use it to find or group work, leave it out. * If a value changes inside one Task, use Steps. Steps show progress without widening the table. * Keep columns short and structured. Use Description for brief context or instructions. Use Task comments for discussion and decisions. Link to work product in your DMS as the source of truth. * One accountable owner per Task and one due date. You can add collaborators, but always name a primary owner who moves the Task. If different people or dates apply to different parts, split into separate Tasks or capture the handoff as Steps. * Add automations after you lock the design. Finalize columns and status definitions first. Then add simple reminders and escalations that read those fields. --- ## Status hygiene that everyone understands Status is the single most important column in project management. It tells the team where the work stands. Too many options cause confusion. Too few cause misalignment. In Lupl, keep it simple and consistent. * Five to seven statuses are enough. * Use one review gate, For review or For approval. Use both only if your process needs two gates. * One terminal status, Done. This is the end state of the Task. Use Archived only if you report on it or need it for retention workflows. --- ## When to split into multiple Workstreams In project management, it is best practice to separate workstreams when workflows, owners, or audiences diverge. Lupl makes this easy by letting you create multiple Workstreams for one matter. Create a new Workstream if any of the following are true. * You need a different set of columns for a chunk of work. * Ownership or cadence is different, for example daily docketing vs monthly reporting. * The audience or confidentiality needs are different. **Signal** * If half your rows leave several columns blank, you are mixing processes. Split the table. --- ## Decision tree, three quick questions Use this quick framework to decide where an item belongs. This is the same principle used in task management software, adapted for legal workflows. 1. Is this a list of similar items over time, or a discrete phase of the matter * Yes. Create a Workstream. 2. Can it be overdue by itself, and does it need an owner * Yes. Create a Task. 3. Is it a step to finish a Task and not tracked on its own * Yes. Create a Step. --- ## Common mistakes to avoid Many project management failures come from overdesigning or misusing the structure. Avoid these mistakes to keep your Workstreams lean and effective. * Wide tables with many optional columns. Keep it to eight or fewer. * Two columns for the same idea, for example Status and Phase that overlap. Merge or define clearly. * More than one approval gate when one would do. It slows work and confuses owners. * Mixing unrelated processes in one table, for example signatures and invoice approvals. --- ## Build your first Workstream Building a Workstream is like setting up a project board. Keep it light, pilot it, then refine. Lupl is designed to let you do this quickly without heavy admin work. 1. Write the Workstream purpose in one sentence. 2. Add the Core 5 columns. 3. Add at most three Helpers you will use. 4. Define clear Status meanings in plain words. 5. Set defaults for any value that repeats on most rows, for example Jurisdiction. 6. Add two light automations, a due soon reminder and an overdue nudge. 7. Pilot for one week and adjust. --- ## Where this fits in legal project management Use these principles to standardize project management for lawyers across matters. Keep structures consistent. Reuse column sets and status definitions. Your team will find work faster, reduce follow ups, and close loops on time. --- ### On page SEO helpers * Suggested title tag. Lupl Workstream Design Principles, Practical Legal Project Management for Lawyers * Suggested meta description. Learn how to design lean Lupl Workstreams for legal project management. Get clear rules for Tasks, Steps, statuses, and columns to run matters with confidence. * Suggested URL slug. legal-project-management-for-lawyers-workstream-design

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