Gerson Lehrman Group: Consulting & Expert Witness Marketplace

What is Gerson Lehrman Group?

Gerson Lehrman Group is an international consulting firm that matches freelancers with corporate clients who need expert advice and with lawyers looking for expert witnesses.

How it works:

If you want to sign up as an expert at GLG, you’ll be led through an extensive process during which you’ll connect your Linkedin profile and provide details about your expertise.

You’ll also need to complete a tutorial on consulting compliance issues, which explain what sort of consulting gigs would present a conflict of interest to a GLG expert. Experts are cautioned to avoid any conflicts with current or former employers. And government employees and officials are generally barred from joining the network.

The site will also ask you to set your own hourly rate. If you want help with this, the site has a calculator. But the site generally recommends matching your hourly consulting rate with your hourly work rate. (Many other sites suggest that you set your consulting rate higher. However, GLG argues that setting your rate “competitively” means you’ll get more work.

Once your profile is complete, the site will ask you to sign their terms and conditions, which serve as a legal contract between you and GLG.

After that, the site will notify you if it has consulting gigs appropriate for your expertise.

GLG Review:

GLG is a marketplace that aims to connect experts in a wide array of fields with companies and organizations — law firms, colleges, non-profits, etc. — that need their expertise.

Like competitor Maven, GLG requires prospective consultants to click through an extensive questionnaire that highlights the many conflicts of interest that consultants might encounter. Specifically, if you are currently working, you are not allowed to provide any non-public information about your employer — or about any other public company. You also must abide by your own company’s rules about working for competitors.

Accountants can’t disclose information about audit clients. And government officials, if allowed in the network, are not allowed to discuss legislation, regulation or policies that they could influence.

You are able to accept or decline any project for any reason. And you are allowed to cut calls short — at full pay — if the client is asking you to breach your ethical duty to your employer or violate any laws or regulations.

That said, the site encourages you to set your rates on the low side of normal for consulting gigs. And this may be because GLG charges clients a subscription fee to get access to its experts. The subscription fee can be a bargain for clients who use GLG experts regularly when these experts offer their services cheaper here than elsewhere. (Kind of like paying for a Costco membership.) But, it may not be as good of a deal for the freelancers who consult here.

Rates and fees

Gerson Lehrman Group helps you set your own consulting rate with an online calculator. However, GLG’s calculator is likely to simply divide your estimated annual salary by 2,000 hours. (That’s the average annual hours assuming a 40-hour week and two-weeks vacation.)

GLG’s competitors generally suggest higher rates. Maven, for example, assumes that you should set your rates at two-to four-times your normal hourly pay.

Gerson Lehrman Group also only pays for time spent interacting with clients. Any preparation time, wait time or time set aside for a meeting that gets cancelled at the last minute is not paid.

Who can consult here

Generally speaking, the experts who can find success with GLG are high-end executives who have extensive experience. Directors of major corporations, for instance. CEOs of logistics companies. Seasoned geologists and architects. Programming and tech experts. Investment bankers and hedge-fund managers. In other words, people likely to earn a considerable amount of money from their day job.

Doctors, nurses and other health care providers can also find work here because the site has a substantial expert witness division. And many of the cases that require expert witnesses involve wrongful death and medical malpractice litigation.

Other considerations

If you’re the right kind of individual, the chance of getting a consulting gig with GLG appears to be pretty good. And getting a gig at your normal hourly rate is better than not getting a gig at a much higher rate, right?

You do have some flexibility when setting rates initially, however. So don’t be shy in that initial evaluation of what you’re worth. It appears that GLG makes it difficult to raise your rates later. (Rate change requests need to go through site support.)

Recommendations

Even though Gershon Lehrman Group appears to offer more consulting gigs than some of its competitors, consulting is not regular work. You may get a job or two per month. And many of those are likely to involve an hour or less of your time.

That said, none of the consulting platforms restrict you from signing up with their competitors. It’s not a bad idea to register with multiple consulting sites. You can register with GLG here.

Others to consider: Catalant, Maven and Zintro.

What their users say (from Indeed)

“From time to time someone needs specialized help that i’m qualified to help with, probably only about 5 hours a quarter. However, i’m compensated extremely well for this time. It’s very low pressure when deciding whether to take a project or not.”

“Lots of varied Aerospace/Aviation consulting opportunities with major OEM’s regarding Airline and Military operations.”

Great money

“It is great money for the amount of time a project or consultation requires. All consultation opportunities are accepted or declined based on my choice.”

“They paid me over USD 300 per 10 minutes for the consulting time.”

“Excellent working conditions with the ability to provide help and resolutions for major customers and stakeholders. Great for persons looking for side income. All work is prescreened to make sure customers agree with the talent needed.”

(from Quora):

“I’ve been on GLG for some 8 years and have done some really interesting and well-paying consultations that were referred to me through their network. But they’re few and far between. Most of the consultations are for half an hour. So for me, it’s pocket money.”

“I have done over 50 consultations with them over a 2 year period. The flexibility of being able to quote your own rate, and be able to do it at your convenience helps too. A majority of the clients I work with, are on the East coast of US, and so I’m able to take early morning calls while driving to work on the West coast. Win win for everyone!”

“Most engagements are 1/2 hour. And when it’s all said and done, I’ve probably spent 4 hours of my time responding and communicating with GLG for every hour I have been paid. Might be time to pull the plug. Three years have passed with very marginal return on my time.”

Last year, I made $2,700 consulting with GLG. I completed 8 consulting calls at $300/hour and 3 paid surveys for $30 – $45 each. It was easy money. I did all of the calls at really convenient times, like before I headed into the office or even on my lunch break from work. I completed a couple of the surveys while riding the bus. Best of all, I didn’t have to prepare, follow up, market, sell, or chase anyone down for payment. If you ask me, it’s got to be one of the best side hustles in the world.

*updated 10/2/2024