In the past year, the share of Big Law firms that indicated plans to grow leverage in the next two years has shrunk, while remaining a majority, as lower levels of demand this year have left firms with highly paid lawyers with lower levels of average productivity.
Midyear survey results on leverage projections, provided to The American Lawyer by researchers at Citi’s Global Wealth at Work Law Firm Group, found 62% of large firms anticipate an increase in the ratio of salaried lawyers to equity partners, down from 77% in 2022’s mid-year survey.
