The general counsel of a major U.S. health care provider summed up the fundamental client-counsel disconnect: “Nine of our 10 executive team members are physicians. My outside counsel is giving me legal advice in lawyer-ish and I need to translate it into doctor-ish. Not just the terminology, but my lawyers need to demonstrate that they know how health care executives think, what worries them, why issues matter for our industry. That’s not happening nearly enough.”
The ability to maintain and grow client relationships hinges on law firms’ ability to match their technical, legal knowledge with sector-specific insights. And our research with clients shows that far fewer law firms are delivering that standard.
