For the past year, Big Law firms have been quietly asking their underperforming partners to seek employment elsewhere, a trend often referred to as counseling out attorneys.

These underperforming attorneys were rooted out of their firms after years of tip-toeing around the issue, as firms looked to protect profits and revenue in the early, dark days of the pandemic, when business closures and strict stay-at-home orders necessary to stem the spread of COVID-19 tanked the economy.