With demand slumping and the newest cohort of lawyers veering away from the traditional demands of Big Law, law firms are poised to experiment with less-arduous career tracks, according to analysts and industry observers.

Already, over the last few years, as new partners lamented the increasing length of partner tracks, Kirkland & Ellis shortened its equity partner path from 10 to 9 years. Weil, Gotshal & Manges also abridged its nonequity partner circuit from 9.5 to 7.5 years.