Today’s economy and how it is affecting librarianship in private law firms has been the focus of many discussions. At the 2012 American Association of Law Libraries meeting and the 2012 Private Law Libraries Summit, it was the central theme running through many of the programs, and there was consensus that the current economic climate calls for innovation and flexibility from private law librarians.
We all faced significant challenges with the downturn of the legal market in 2008 that culminated in the credit crisis in 2009. In mid-March and in October 2009, AALL conducted a survey of law library directors to understand how the economic crisis was affecting the profession. What they found was that in private law libraries, 30 percent saw staff reductions, but 72 percent also had a hiring freeze in place.
