At Wilson Elser, we believe that strong client partnerships and a commitment to excellence require a strategic approach to litigation management. That’s why we developed ALIGN, a comprehensive program that blends the best of Legal Process Improvement and Legal Project Management (LPI/LPM). ALIGN is central to how we practice law, helping to set us apart from our competitors and driving our outstanding record of success.

Guided by ALIGN processes and principles, our attorneys bring deep experience and skill to every case, ensuring the best possible outcomes for our clients. In today’s complex legal landscape, achieving simplicity, consistency, and efficiency requires creativity and precision. ALIGN enables us to successfully manage resources across all types of litigation – from single-plaintiff cases to multijurisdictional class actions – tailoring our approach to each client’s unique needs and risk tolerance.

Notably, ALIGN is provided at no additional cost to our clients.

Extensive Training

ALIGN’s effectiveness and predictability are a function of more than 10 years of in-market experience with a full-time team of professionals dedicated to training, educating, and otherwise supporting firm attorneys with regard to LPI/LPM concepts and techniques.

Indeed, all Wilson Elser attorneys and paralegals are required to participate in ALIGN training upon joining the firm to provide a common framework and understanding among all case handlers and enable them to apply LPI/LPM on a day-to-day basis. This practice also enables our attorneys and staff to recognize opportunities for process improvement.

Beyond the basic ALIGN certification, the firm has three advanced designations that come with additional training and experience, successively designated as “Leader,” “Master,” and “Champion.”

The firm’s team of litigation management professionals, led by the Director of Legal Process Innovation, conducts the above-described training and provides coaching and support to attorneys with regard to LPI/LPM on an as-needed basis. Our professionals also collaborate with attorneys to analyze and build custom case-handling processes and programs to meet our clients’ needs and expectations, maximizing efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Case-Level Application

ALIGN’s application is most evident at the individual case level. The process generally unfolds as follows:

• Scoping: Early discussions with the client confirm goals and objectives and ensure that everyone is “on the same page.”
• Planning: Strategic planning identifies key activities, staffing, and timetables.
• Budgeting: Projected expenses are identified for the related scope of work.
• Execution: Cases are managed to plan and budget; any changes are addressed proactively.
• Closure: Feedback is solicited and leveraged for use in future engagements.

Program-Level Application

The same rigor and discipline are applied when systematically managing a portfolio of cases.

• Managing to metrics: We uncover troublesome trends before they become performance issues, and we encourage behaviors that positively influence key metrics.
• Developing staffing models: We employ best practices in designing effective staffing models that align with distinct matter types.
• Improving processes: We use data and experience to create new processes or enhance existing ones.
• Managing benchmarks: We continually evaluate progress against benchmarks to help ensure completion on time and on budget.
• Supporting AFAs: We consider alternative fee arrangements and customize them to meet our clients’ needs.

ALIGN in Action

Following are some of the many ways Wilson Elser ALIGN routinely helps us better serve our clients:

• We combine client data with our own to enable more efficient handling and reporting of both one-off assignments and high-volume projects.
• Integrated data also helps us better understand the relationship between legal costs and injury severity, exposure, venue and litigation phases.
• We devise and conduct staffing analyses for several of our clients, comparing timekeeper level usage at various phases of the litigation process.
• We construct comprehensive process maps to better understand the drivers of legal costs, improve workflow, and case handling efficiency and ensure guideline compliance.
• As clients increasingly adopt various software solutions, we realign our processes and approaches to meet their distinct needs.
• As clients modify their internal team structures, we adjust ours accordingly.