The Mergers & Acquisitions UTBMS code set was originally proposed in 2015 by a task force on legal project management within the ABA M&A Committee. They recognized the need for a standard set of codes to promote more effective budgeting, pricing, and categorization of the services provided by outside counsel on mergers and acquisitions transactional matters.
The code set ratified by LOC Board in early February 2016 represents a joint effort between the ABA M&A task force and the LOC M&A Standards Development Subcommittee and includes input from law firms, corporate legal departments, legal technology vendors, and consulting firms around the world.
ABA LOC 2016 Mergers and Aquisitions Code Set and also on the ABA web site here.
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A new manual, Best Practices of Using UTBMS Codes for Merger & Acquisition Transactions, shows how codes can be invaluable for lawyers in communication about how they are using their time and spending clients’ money.
Available in paperback and as an eBook, authors Aileen Leventon and Jenny Ann Horst-Martz discuss timekeeping, outside counsel guidelines, budgeting and legal project management topics, while profiling the 2016 UTBMS Codes for M&A transactions. They point out that the simplicity of the M&A Codes can provide an accurate picture of how time is spent in order to:
- Help price or evaluate fees and value of a matter
- Identify where you are in the matter/plan budget
- Identify out-of-scope work that may need to be addressed
- Enable corrective action as needed to meet deadlines/budgets
The manual is written for lawyers, billing specialists and operations personnel in both law firms and legal departments. It provides practical guidance to achieve measurable benefits. It may be used as a supplement to materials in training programs and master classes. To purchase a copy of the paperback version, go to createspace.com or amazon.com; click here for the eBook.
