The Attorney-Client Engagement Barriers - also known as the 5 ACE Barriers - are the five invisible friction points that prevent potential clients from moving forward in their legal journey. Represented by the ABCDE framework, these barriers show up at every stage between initial awareness and final engagement, silently killing growth and stopping even motivated clients from ever reaching out. They are: A – Awareness: They don’t realize their problem is legal. B – Belief: They doubt a lawyer is necessary or worth it. C – Category: They don’t know what kind of lawyer they need. D – Demonstration: No firm clearly proves it's the right fit. E – Engagement: They're ready—but friction or delay pushes them away. Until these barriers are removed, most legal prospects will never become clients - regardless of marketing spend or firm reputation.