The LPM Project Charter is the foundational document for any Legal Operations initiative. It defines the scope, objectives, stakeholders, timeline, and success criteria before work begins. No Legal Ops project should proceed past the planning phase without an approved charter.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Project Name | [Descriptive name, e.g., “CLM Implementation — Phase 1”] |
| Project Sponsor | [Name and title of the executive sponsor, typically GC or CLO] |
| Project Lead | [Name and title of the Legal Ops lead responsible for delivery] |
| Date Initiated | [DD/MM/YYYY] |
| Target Completion | [DD/MM/YYYY] |
| Version | [Charter version number] |
In 2-3 sentences, describe the specific business problem this project addresses. Use quantified data where possible.
Template: “The [department/function] currently [describe current state with data]. This results in [quantified impact: cost, time, risk]. This project will [describe the change] to achieve [quantified target outcome].”
Example: “The legal department currently processes 1,200 contracts per year through a manual, email-based workflow with an average cycle time of 34 business days. This results in approximately $1.8M in delayed revenue recognition annually. This project will implement a CLM platform with digital playbooks to reduce average cycle time to 18 business days.”
| Objective | Success Metric | Target | Measurement Method |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Objective 1] | [Specific, measurable metric] | [Quantified target] | [How it will be measured] |
| [Objective 2] | [Specific, measurable metric] | [Quantified target] | [How it will be measured] |
| [Objective 3] | [Specific, measurable metric] | [Quantified target] | [How it will be measured] |
In Scope:
Out of Scope:
Scope Change Process: Any change to the defined scope requires written approval from the Project Sponsor. Scope changes will be assessed for impact on timeline, budget, and resource requirements before approval.