It’s been more than a week since Milbank ratcheted up the associate salary scale and still no other big firm has publicly matched the move. It’s conceivable that silence is still a proverbial calm before the storm, some analysts and consultants say.

But sources say it may also speak volumes about where the legal market is at this moment—continuing to grapple with layoffs and a deal market that remains anemic; ramping up a collections push that promises to be more important than ever, with plenty of variability expected in firm financials; and yes, still working through a decision tree that includes what one observer called the “collective global trauma” of COVID-19.