Legal Future Forum

[Kafkaesquire]

What do you smart posters believe will happen to the future of this profession? Is it possible that there will never be a full recovery?

It's been around so long. It seems absurd that this profession could "dry up."

[UVAIce]

What do you smart posters believe will happen to the future of this profession? Is it possible that there will never be a full recovery?

No. But that depends on what you mean by a "full recovery" as even pre-2008 was rough for law students not in the top tier.

[Kafkaesquire]

What do you smart posters believe will happen to the future of this profession? Is it possible that there will never be a full recovery?

No. But that depends on what you mean by a "full recovery" as even pre-2008 was rough for law students not in the top tier.

Shit, anything pre-1990 would be like a walk in the park compared to what goes on now. It's not the economy that I'm worried about. It's the profession.

Edit: well, that's not entirely true. I'm a bit lugubrious about the patent bubble popping in the near future.

[Bronte]

Yes, it's possible that the legal market could return to boom-time prosperity. It would take another boom. If deal activity reached per-crash levels, securitization a got hot again, and the government resumed hiring, that could well happen. That's highly unlikely to happen soon. But as I've said before I think it's fairly likely to happen again in our lifetime.

But so what? The recovery is lethargic. The US could remain in a state of mediocre growth and lukewarm market activity indefinitely. It really does not have much relevance to the decision-making process of anyone at our level.

[Kafkaesquire]

Yes, it's possible that the legal market could return to boom-time prosperity. It would take another boom. If deal activity reached per-crash levels, securitization a got hot again, and the government resumed hiring, that could well happen. That's highly unlikely to happen soon. But as I've said before I think it's fairly likely to happen again in our lifetime.

But so what? The recovery is lethargic. The US could remain in a state of mediocre growth and lukewarm market activity indefinitely. It really does not have much relevance to the decision-making process of anyone at our level.

Is there any evidence to explain why the legal profession would continue its downward trend while the economy recovered?

[Bronte]

Yes, it's possible that the legal market could return to boom-time prosperity. It would take another boom. If deal activity reached per-crash levels, securitization a got hot again, and the government resumed hiring, that could well happen. That's highly unlikely to happen soon. But as I've said before I think it's fairly likely to happen again in our lifetime.

But so what? The recovery is lethargic. The US could remain in a state of mediocre growth and lukewarm market activity indefinitely. It really does not have much relevance to the decision-making process of anyone at our level.

Is there any evidence to explain why the legal profession would continue its downward trend while the economy recovered?

There's the argument that the crash has weakened the bargaining power of big law firms such that they'll be unable to continue their current billing practices. I just question whether this would persist if there were another boom.

[Kafkaesquire]

Yes, it's possible that the legal market could return to boom-time prosperity. It would take another boom. If deal activity reached per-crash levels, securitization a got hot again, and the government resumed hiring, that could well happen. That's highly unlikely to happen soon. But as I've said before I think it's fairly likely to happen again in our lifetime.

But so what? The recovery is lethargic. The US could remain in a state of mediocre growth and lukewarm market activity indefinitely. It really does not have much relevance to the decision-making process of anyone at our level.

Is there any evidence to explain why the legal profession would continue its downward trend while the economy recovered?

There's the argument that the crash has weakened the bargaining power of big law firms such that they'll be unable to continue their current billing practices. I just question whether this would persist if there were another boom.

Another boom is highly probable during our lifetime, even if relatively modest. It shall be interesting to watch the profession respond.