The PSFI Board Report 2025
About the PSFI Board Report 2025
The PSFI Board Report 2025 is the first in a planned series of governance-focused insights into leadership structures across major law firms. Drawing on contributions from 21 leading firms and a blend of survey data and qualitative interviews, the report explores emerging trends in board composition, effectiveness, and succession planning. It offers a snapshot of how firms are evolving to meet increasing complexity, with specific attention to the use of Non-Executive Directors, the practice of board effectiveness reviews, and the development of nomination committees.
We found while corporate boards routinely assess their own performance, law firms lag far behind. The report revealed that fewer than half of the firms surveyed had undertaken a board effectiveness review.
We also saw that Nomination Committees are becoming a pivotal component of law firm governance and a growing trend towards the use of NEDs.
PSFI will continue to track these trends through future editions.
Articles AuthorThe External Edge: Why Firms Are Betting on NEDs
The External Edge: Why Firms Are Betting on NEDs NEDs are no longer a rarity, over 50% of surveyed firms have at least one External NED on their board. Boards commonly include CXOs (e.g., CFOs, COOs) and elected members, alongside NEDs, suggesting a...
AuthorFrom Elections to Leadership Pipelines
Nominations/Appointments Committees are among the four most common board sub-committees across the sector with half of firms now having a committee fulfilling some role in respect of nomination and appointments However the scope and influence of these committees varies significantly PSFI’s 2025 Board...
AuthorHow Fit Is Your Board to Lead? Most Law Firms Don’t Know
Over half of firms have never undertaken a board effectiveness review Of those that have, half do not have a regular cadence and undertake their reviews on an ad hoc basis. Many firms are taking steps to support individual Board members...