Book excerpt: To meet the increasing demands for transparency and efficiency in the deal process and predictability of legal costs in M&A, this new guidebook contains tools to help M&A lawyers streamline and manage transactions, without overlooking important matters or compromising the quality of their legal services. Complete with practical guidance from veteran M&A practitioners, this valuable resource outlines each step of the M&A process, from "Pre-Deal," "Deal," to "Post-Closing," offering insight to help deal lawyers effectively scope, plan, manage, and execute M&A deals. It contains downloadable checklists, forms, and tools that lawyers can customize to implement legal project management in their M&A practice.