5 May 2006
Why Don’t More Law Firms Have Advisory Boards?
I was recently reading an article by Ed Sim that discusses the importance of a good advisory board. That raises the question: why don’t more law firms use advisory boards to help improve services, spot trends, and develop business? Pulling together an advisory group made up of a wide range of clients — in-house counsel, business leaders, accountants, politicians — and asking for advice seems like a no-brainer. Companies do it all the time. Why don’t law firms do it?
Perhaps it’s an ethical issue, because lawyers think that by involving outsiders in their law firm decisions, they are somehow handing over control of their practice to outsiders and non-lawyers. But law firms bring in outside consultants all the time to recommend business and marketing strategies, assist them with public relations, and conduct leadership training. Assuming that the advisory board is just that — an advisory board and not a management board — then it seems the law firms are not running into ethical issues.
Maybe it’s a perception issue, where law firms believe that if they establish a formal advisory board, they will somehow be perceived by the marketplace and other law firms as weak, struggling or in need of assistance.
Most likely, law firms don’t establish advisory boards because it breaks with tradition. And that’s precisely why the legal profession will struggle in the coming years. It’s time to reach out.
