Law firms have been affected to an unprecedented degree by the current economic downturn. Many have made deep cuts in lawyers and staff. Others have reduced salaries and hours, rescinded outstanding offers of employment, frozen hiring, delayed start dates for incoming lawyers, and even paid graduates to forgo the positions they earlier were offered. Many have lost clients as entire sectors of the economy have disappeared or have been radically realigned. Are the dramatic steps that firms have taken temporary adjustments to market conditions, which will have limited long-term effect after economic recovery? Or do they reflect fundamental changes in the business model of law firms that are likely to transform the market for legal services and the legal profession in general? This symposium will bring together scholars, practitioners, and legal professionals from around the world to discuss the future of the market for legal services, and the implications of change for the organization of law practice, legal career paths, law schools, and lawyers’ sense of professional identity.
