IILPM Live 2025 – The Human Side: A Global Gathering on the Future of Legal Management
On October 1st, the international legal community came together for IILPM Live 2025 – The Human Side, a global online event that highlighted not only the evolution of Legal Project Management (LPM) but also the critical role of human skills in shaping the future of the profession.
The day began with a warm welcome from Dr. Todd Hutchison, Global Chair of IILPM, who emphasized how the practice of LPM is maturing into a global standard for innovation, efficiency, and client-centered legal service delivery.
The conversation then moved into the Round Table on Evolution and Future Trends of LPM, moderated by Antony Smith (UK), where international experts explored the findings of the IILPM Global Survey 2025. Drawing on insights from 61 professionals across five continents, the panel unpacked key trends: steady growth in adoption (59% reported moderate growth; 21% significant growth), efficiency and cost control as the strongest drivers, but also persistent barriers such as resistance to change (56%) and lack of training (27%). While technology and AI were recognized as important enablers—43% believe AI will significantly impact LPM, and 25% see it as transformational—the panel underscored that the future of LPM will depend just as much on human competencies: change management, leadership, communication, and collaboration. With contributions from Jacob Capleton (Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer), Mori Kabiri (Legal Operations KPIs), Jo Nerona (Freshfields LLP), and María Pedrosa Martínez (Repsol), the discussion highlighted how law firms and legal departments are building more agile, resilient, and human-centered practices.
The second part of the event invited participants to experience parallel workshops on The Human Side of Productivity. In Spanish, Anna Marra (IILPM Deputy Chair) guided participants through neuroproductivity strategies to overcome procrastination, align with natural energy cycles, and sustain focus. In English, Karen Dunn Skinner (IILPM ATP Canada) explored practical tools for enhancing team morale, communication, and performance in demanding legal environments. Both sessions reinforced the event’s central theme: behind every tool and process, it is the human element that determines success.
The day concluded with the Celebration of Excellence: The IILPM Awards 2025 Ceremony, where Dr. Todd Hutchison, Anna Marra, and David Skinner honored innovative projects and teams from around the world. This year’s winners came from Spain, Canada, Argentina, and Puerto Rico, alongside a Special Recognition in Education for Chile. Their work demonstrated that LPM and Legal Process Improvement are not just methodologies, but powerful drivers of access to justice, digital transformation, and sustainable growth in the legal sector.
IILPM Live 2025 – The Human Side left participants with a clear message: while technology and methodologies continue to evolve, the greatest opportunity lies in strengthening the human side of legal management—our ability to lead, adapt, and collaborate in increasingly complex environments.
Recording soon available.
Our Annual ‘IILPM Live’ Event
Join our vibrant IILPM community of practitioners and industry-leading experts every year for four value-packed hours of learning and collaboration in this unique free event.
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A Reflection on the IILPM Live 2024 Event
The Delivered IILPM Live 2024 Event
The annual IILPM LIVE 2024 was the third global event for IILPM. It explored the relationship between Artificial Intelligence (AI), efficiency, productivity and automation with best practices and interactive workshops.
IILPM Live 2024 aimed to discuss this topic with a panel of international expert speakers from law firms, legal counsel, universities, centres of excellence and legal tech vendors. How AI will transform legal project and process management is a real challenge for legal management in coming years.
There is no doubt that AI is revolutionising legal project management and legal process management by improving efficiency, accuracy and decision making, enabling legal professionals to better serve their clients and manage legal projects and processes more effectively.
Among others, AI will impact the automation of repetitive, tedious and repetitive tasks, such as legal document review, drafting standard contracts and managing procedural calendars. It will also enable data analytics and encourage prediction, relying on large volumes of legal data to identify patterns, trends and potential risks.