Even casual readers of the financial media may have noticed a certain pattern lately. With every new report about unemployment, factory utilization or home/auto sales, forecasters and pundits alike seek to reassure us that we’re out of the Great Recession, which began in 2008. Is it back to normal yet?

In the United States, the jury’s still out about the legal industry. A couple of prominent law firms (Howrey and Dewey & LeBoeuf) folded under heavy debt burdens, while clients continue to find ever more creative ways to cut legal spending.