Though it took a while for the recession to hit bone, New Jersey’s largest firms are feeling the hit, as shown by the sharp reduction in new partnerships in this, the 2010 New Partners Yearbook.

This year we profile 106 lawyers for whom the books were opened at N.J. firms or branch offices. That’s a 27 percent drop from 146 in last year’s edition — made starker by the fact that the number had averaged 150 for the years 2007-09.