Large firms likely won’t have mass attorney layoffs in the near future, even with demand flat, compensation expenses up and productivity down. But in a reverse of last year, they will likely look to “rightsize” attorney ranks, some analysts say, by sticking to performance review measures, transferring associates to other practices and letting natural attrition take shape.

Indeed, some observers predict that associates who left for larger firms may boomerang back to smaller and regional firms as a result of any of these Big Law measures.