lawyers as trusted advisors
In an earlier post about lawyer-client relationships, I referred to David Maister’s terrific book, The Trusted Advisor, and his related article Do You Really Want Relationships? (originally flagged by Gerry Riskin). The article points up the differences between client transactions and client relationships, stating that consumers of professional services strongly prefer the latter type of interaction. Despite this preference, Maister asserts, relationship-minded advisors are a relatively rare breed in today’s business world. The gist of Maister’s thesis is further explored in a new Law Marketing Portal article by consultant Darcie Davis titled Becoming a Trusted Advisor [excerpted from a marketing report captioned Do You Trust Your Lawyer? (pdf)]. The piece tracks executive views on the hallmarks of lawyer-client relationships of “the highest level” – that is, relationships where the lawyer is considered a “trusted advisor with strategic input that influences an executive's decision.” Among the characteristics the execs cite (as ordered and linked together by me) are: “Tell me the good and the bad and give me absolute two-way candor; Give me advice I need to avoid litigation in the worst case; Have the ability to put themselves in my shoes with knowledge about my business, our culture, our constraints and realities; Be a business partner with broad business insights to give me business advice; They are responsive to requests on changes to their billing format, timing and detail; He doesn't talk down to us; He demonstrates he is more interested in helping us than in making money in the short term.” Of the executives tapped for the report, 54% responded that they've forged this optimal trust-based relationship with a legal advisor.
