What do we talk about when we talk about “BigLaw”? Let’s be honest: We’re not actually discussing specific law firms at all. We’re really talking about an idea, a model, an approach to the market. “BigLaw” is shorthand for a particular type of law firm, one that employs hundreds of lawyers charging exceptionally high fees to deliver a wide range of standard commercial and dispute resolution services to corporate and institutional clients.
Calling this model “BigLaw,” however, oversimplifies things. These are complex, multidimensional entities, and it’s neither accurate nor helpful to describe them by size alone. More to the point, in the months and years to come, the “Big” part of that name will become less relevant. Many of these firms are actually much larger than they need to be — and they’re about to get a whole lot smaller.
