The sooner law firms realize that the prerecession boom times are not coming back, the sooner they can begin to accept that low single-digit revenue growth is something to cheer about, two industry advisers stress in a report released earlier this year. The 13-page client advisory, produced by Citi Private Bank’s Law Firm Group and Hildebrandt Consulting, lays out a vision of a changed law firm landscape—one in which partners bill fewer hours than they did before the recession while they invest more into their firms through capital contributions; associates occupy a shrinking slice of salaried attorney positions; and firm leaders act more like businesspeople than lawyers.
Firms “can no longer rely on a rising tide that lifts all boats,” the coauthors write. “In fact, the tide is out.”
