Hey – wasn’t 2010 supposed to be the year of reckoning for the legal industry? Chastened by the economic downturn, big-firm partners were practically on their knees just a year ago, swearing to clients – and anyone else who’d listen – that they’d change their antiquated, prodigal ways. Weren’t they all chanting that mantra of efficiency and rationality?
The penance was real – for a while. The fact is, the fundamentals of the legal business are pretty much the same – and will likely remain so for the foreseeable future. Why? Because the economy, while still shaky, has stabilised for big-firm lawyers – at least for those lucky enough to hold on to their partnership seats during the turbulence – and those old ways are hard to shake.
