How should I respond to a request for consulting received via LinkedIn?

Such requests are commonly sent by organisations known as expert networks. They connect people with relevant expertise to clients looking for specific expert knowledge (most often in consulting, private equity and similar industries).

Usually during these calls you will be asked to asses the state and development of the industry you work (or used to work) in. This includes assessing the value chain of suppliers/customers, and competitors in each.

You are right to think about legal implications - these consultation calls have strict compliance boundaries. In general, the people who will be talking to you will have received compliance training and shouldn’t ask borderline questions. However, be transparent and tell them which information you may share and what is off-limits.

I wrote a blog post for people who receive such requests, you can find it here: Advice for experts in expert networks. It discusses the main compliance issues, gives advice on how to set your compensation rate and how to get more such expertise sharing requests.

(This was originally a Quora answer, moved here when that platform had a period of downtime)