Editor’s Note: This story is adapted from ALM’s Mid-Market Report. For more business of law coverage exclusively geared toward midsize firms, sign up for a free trial subscription to ALM’s weekly newsletter, The Mid-Market Report.

Early in the last economic downturn, savvy midsize firm leaders began to sense that their moment was coming, as buzz grew that Big Law’s ever-ascending rates were becoming untenable for increasingly cost-conscious clients.