There seems to be no end to bad financial news for law firms: Demand is flat, revenue growth is expected to fall short of last year’s small gains, billable hours and realization rates are down and costs are rising.
And judging from law firms’ recruitment for their 2013 summer class, no one is expecting the landscape to change dramatically anytime soon. An informal survey of 11 Am Law 200 firms conducted by The Recorder found that the appetite for summer associates has shrunk by nearly 40 percent from 2007. For law students, the good news is that recruitment seems to have stabilized. The good news for firms is that with smaller class sizes, it’s much easier than in the boom days to get the pick of the litter.
