Legal Lean Sigma Institute
  • Certifications & Programs
    • View Certifications & Programs
    • Upcoming Courses
    • Private Delivery
  • Consulting
    • View Consulting
    • PI+PM
    • PI Projects
    • The P+ Ecosystem™
  • Legal WorkOut®
  • About Us
    • View About Us
    • The Team
    • News & Resources
    • Contact Us
Select Page

Certifications & Programs

All Legal Lean Sigma Institute certifications, certificates, courses, workshops, retreats, and presentations are designed for legal and business professionals. We offer more than 50 courses in our catalog that can be delivered in person or virutally, on our platform or yours. We are experienced curriculum designers and tailor each privately delivered program for your group or team.

Certifications (Belts)

All certification course dates have been postponed to 2021 with new dates TBA.

Our approach is to introduce concepts and tools, then provide opportunities for attendees to apply them to a legal or business process they’re interested in improving. Through case studies and the use of success stories from law firms and legal departments, participants learn about process improvement and project management in relevant and immediately useful contexts.

Currently, we are exploring how to deliver our public certification courses virtually, and finding new ways to deliver them privately. For example, rather than a full day or two, we might offer a sustained series of modules, workshops, and microlearning options.

Legal Lean Sigma Institute White and Yellow Belt courses traditionally take place in person and include experiential learning, table work with exercises (such as process mapping), and interactive discussions. These are excellent opportunities to learn together, set the stage for actionable next steps, engage in team building, and collaborate. There is no prerequisite for either the White or Yellow Belt course. We deliver them privately and at a limited number of public, open enrollment courses during the year. If you are interested in hosting one, please contact us.

A Green Belt certification requires a Yellow Belt plus our acceptance of a successfully completed project. Please contact us to discuss interest in a Green and/or Black Belt certification, as these are tailored for each candidate.

Virtual Courses and Certificates

Certificate and Online Programs – Legal Lean Sigma Institute LLC

Certificates

With your cohort, you’ll complete one hour courses in three consecutive days. Then, you’ll work with a team (attend with your own or we will assign you to one) on a case study, which you’ll present to Visting Scholars in Continuous Improvement and Innovation. Using a rubric to assess your team presentation, these guest judges provide invaluable and immediate feedback and counsel to each team.
All this is completed within a 10 day to 2 week time period; please expect to spend 10-12 hours total in this immersive learning experience, with 7 in class and workshops and another 3 – 5 working outside class on the case study. This accelerated format prepares you for success in your own organization.
Each cohort in our virtual programs will work with different instructors, including Black Belts, industry leaders, and operational excellence experts, and will be guided through the experience by Catherine Alman MacDonagh, CEO and Founder of the Legal Lean Sigma Institute LLC. Teams will be coached on the case studies by Mo Zain Ajaz and will benefit from Mo’s experience as General Counsel and Group Head of Legal Operational Excellence for National Grid. Luminaries in continuous improvement and innovation will serve as judges, enhancing opportunities to learn from the best and brightest.
Initial offerings are at the 100 and 200 level. Registration is open for two Level 100 and one Level 200 cohorts. Additional certificates will be available; all will require completion of the 100 and 200 levels. Each cohort is limited in number to ensure an effective ratio for an engaging, immersive learning experience.

See details on our Upcoming Programs page.

Certificate programs may be delivered privately (where we can tailor the content and even the case study). You may also register for an open enrollment cohort, where you work with an assigned team or attend with your own.

Course Catalog

We offer more than 50 virtual courses in a live lecture format and welcome opportunities to (co)design training and curriculum to support your organization’s or team’s specific objectives. Please see our brochure for more information.

New training options are always in development from our Faculty, Scholars in Residence, and Visiting Scholars in Continuous Improvement and Innovation. The Legal Lean Sigma Institute team is driven by a commitment to continuously improve, facilitate the ability to innovate and work collaboratively, and help transform in order to deliver greater value to their organizations and clients – with no trade-offs.

Topical areas include: Process Improvement, Project Management, Efficiency, Pricing and Profitability, Leadership and Teaming, Change Management, Organizational Development, Client and Business Development, Performance Metrics and Management, and Collaboration and Innovation.

Legal Innovation and Technology Certificate

If you’re interested in an asynchronous learning environment, this Process Improvement and Legal Project Management course is an excellent option. It is delivered by LLSI’s CEO and Founder, Catherine Alman MacDonagh, and is offered through Suffolk University Law School, where she is an adjunct professor. It may be taken as either a standalone or as part of Suffolk Law’s Legal Innovation and Technology Certificate Program.

CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS. An excellent and worthwhile program and experience… I enjoyed meeting the fellow summer cohort members as well as the LLSI facilitators and judges…Great scholars, attendees and judges … our profession is safe in these hands… looking forward to hearing what happens next!!! Loved being part of this!!…Thanks to all of the instructors and judges. This was a fantastic program and I look forward to moving on to Level 200!…Thank you LLSI. It was an incredible experience…An absolutely valuable use of my time. As a Yellow Belt holder it was great to work our way through the case study. A refresher with a boost!!

Kimberly Bell, Level 100 Judge: An impressive group — great strategic thinking in the team presentations – great leaders in the legal industry. I was honored to be included in the presentation judging and feedback discussion with Susan, Bob and Jim. A valuable program thanks to LSSI and Catherine.

Susan Hackett, Level 100 Judge: Loved being part of the “finals” for this rising class of leaders … The true mark of a good program for folks judging a competition: you learn more than you preach. It’s easy to get tired of pushing the “innovation” rope up the hill – this cohort gave me such confidence that the next generation is here and they’re inspired.

Robert Taylor, Level 100 Judge and Vice President, Senior Corporate Counsel – Legal Ideation & Transformation at Liberty Mutual Insurance: I was so impressed with all of the participants. Everyone was willing to take a risk and learn new skills. Thank you Catherine for allowing me to be part of the experience as a judge. If you haven’t checked out the offerings from Legal Lean Sigma Institute, you should.

CERTIFICATION COURSES. This was one of the best workshops I have attended and participated in over the last eight years… Content very well organized and easy to follow… Legal examples nicely tied to content… Practically delivered in bite-sized pieces…I learned a lot… very valuable…engaging, friendly, intelligent speaker… Would recommend… Course materials are excellent… Exceeded my expectations, which were high… Well planned, well documented, well led – well done!…The White Belt was an excellent introduction to process improvement and project management.

Upcoming Courses

LEVEL 100 CERTIFICATE PROGRAM
Three, one-hour lectures from 12 - 1 eastern on 11.8. 11.9. and 11.20, two hours of team collaboration on the case study on 11.11, and case study presentations on 11.16
  • Monday, November 8
  • Tuesday, November 9
  • Wednesday, November 10
  • Thursday, November 11
  • Tuesday November 16
MORE INFO
PI & DEI [FREE]
Please plan to join Merry Neitlich and Audrey Rubin for this interview with Ray Williams, National DEI Partner, DLA Piper, in the Legal Lean Sigma Institute series of discussions on Process Improvement & Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
  • December 2
MORE INFO
YELLOW BELT CERTIFICATION COURSE
This is a VIRTUAL course featuring Catherine Alman MacDonagh, Ronna West Cross, Frederick J. Esposito, Jr., Jerry Rosenthal, and Kyla Sandwith
  • Monday, January 10 - Friday, January 14, 2022 from 12 - 3:30 eastern each day
MORE INFO
LEADERSHIP CERTIFICATE PROGRAM
This is a VIRTUAL course led by Kyla Sandwith.
  • Four 90-minute meetings from 12 - 1:30 eastern
  • Monday, January 17, 2022
  • Tuesday, January 18
  • Wednesday, January 19
  • Tuesday, January 25
MORE INFO
White Belt Certification Course - Sample Agenda (PDF)
Yellow Belt Certification Course - Sample Agenda (PDF)

White Belt

Participation in a one day course that is designed to be a high level introduction to Lean, Six Sigma and Legal Project Management. Learning objectives are geared toward participants gaining familiarity with the vocabulary, concepts, and some of the tools most commonly used in PI and PM.

Yellow Belt

Participation in a two day, more intensive course that is designed for participants to be able to understand and employ Lean, Six Sigma and Legal Project Management vocabulary, methodologies, and tools.

Green Belt

Requires a Yellow Belt plus the successful completion of an approved project and other certification requirements.

Black Belt

Requires a Yellow and Green Belt plus completion of a dozen or more approved projects and other certification requirements (workshops, distance learning). For those committed to a career as a process improvement practitioner.

Private Delivery

Programs and Workshops

  • Legal WorkOut®
  • Process mapping
  • Client collaboration
  • Strategic planning
  • Retreats and curriculum design
  • Management/Executive, Steering Committee, and Sponsor development and overviews
  • Team and team leader training

All our privately delivered course, workshops, programs, retreats, and presentations are tailored and designed specifically for your group. Processes, projects, and teams are selected in advance. For the workshop components of privately delivered certification courses, attendees learn together, begin drafting deliverables such as project charters and rough process maps, earn a certification and, in most cases, are eligible for CLE credit.

Contact Us Today
We received a complete introduction to this very comprehensive material in a way that allowed us to take away practical means to begin implementing the concepts as part of our work. Your facilitation met the class at its various participant needs and your design/structure allowed the teams to work on practical application in a way that reinforced the concepts via your own work/design.

Interested in downloading a complimentary presentation on Legal Lean Sigma?
Download Now
© Legal Lean Sigma Institute, LLC. Legal Lean Sigma is a registered trademark. All Rights Reserved.
Legal Lean Sigma Institute, LLC

With our specific focus on the legal profession, we are uniquely capable of providing services to to law firms and legal departments. The concept of applying Lean and Six Sigma to law firms was conceived by CEO and Founder Catherine Alman MacDonagh, JD, a former corporate counsel turned law firm marketing and business development professional turned process improvement practitioner and professor.

Learn More
Contact Us

857.272.5695

Email Us
Upcoming Courses
View All Events
We Can Help

Do you know how much effort it takes – and how much it costs – to DO and DELIVER a specific type of work?

Struggling with budgeting, pricing, and billing?

Find Out More
Top