Demand for legal services is flat for the year so far and has dipped slightly in New York in the second quarter, according to a report released Monday. In its quarterly report on market conditions, Hildebrandt Baker Robbins said demand for legal services nationally dropped 0.1 percent in the second quarter compared with the same period in 2009. In New York City it fell 1 percent.
Rate growth has meanwhile been slowing nationally, the report said. Rates climbed 2.6 percent in the second quarter, compared to the 3.5 percent and 6.5 percent growth seen in 2009 and 2008, respectively. A slowdown in productivity growth meanwhile suggests “the legal industry may be facing a prolonged period of slow growth,” the report said. It later stated, “While the overall economy continues to improve, albeit somewhat erratically, the legal industry stubbornly refuses to do more than barely inch its way off of the lows seen last year.”
