Becoming a 'trusted advisor' key for future lawyers
Published Thu, Sep 16 2010 by Lawyers Weekly Australia
Lawyers must act like trusted advisors if they are to remain relevant in the future, according to Charles H. Green. He speaks to Lawyers Weekly.
Trust is at the heart of every good relationship. For a lawyer, it is the central ingredient that ties them to their clients and proves they provide advice worthy of payment. But as law firms continue to merge and grow into national, regional and global-sized businesses with hundreds - if not thousands - of lawyers, it seems the traditional role of the lawyer asa trusted advisor has been eroded.
Today, however, law departments in organisations appear keen to rekindle the notion of talking to trusted advisors. And, with the advent of technology, the proliferation of legal outsource providers and cheaper alternatives to traditional legal service offerings emerging, the move to becoming a trusted advisor is more important than ever for private practice lawyers. "We're all subject to being replaced by a database if all there is is content," says president of Trusted Advisor Associates and author Charles Green. "But you cannot outsource relationships and we're infinitely a long way away from replacing the nuances that come from a good relationship." For lawyers, that begs the question: just how does one become a trusted advisor?
Crafting trust
Green is a former consultant and executive education lecturer who, in 2005, co-authored The Trusted Advisor with David H. Maister and Robert M. Galford. Five years later, the book is still a popular advisory text for numerous organisations across a variety of industries. It has also been translated into an accredited training series, the first of which have recently started in Australia via accredited trainer Hazel Thompson.
