Report on Legal Profession Study Group
| Publication year | 1992 |
| Pages | 32 |
| Citation | Vol. 5 No. 3 Pg. 32 |
"Trends in the Practice of Law"
David B. Hartvigsen, J.
The practice of law has experienced significant changes during recent years. These changes have included trends towards: larger firms and the birth of Mega-Firms; specialized practices and boutique firms; computerization and the information boom; advertising and intensified competition; and alternatives to the traditional system such as legal services organizations ("LSOs, " the HMOs of the legal profession) and Alternative Dispute Resolution ("ADR"). These changes have been brought about in part by dramatic increase in the number of attorneys, rapid technology advancements, more sophisticated clients, and an increasingly litigious society.
The Study Group focused first on move towards Mega-Firms, discussing whether their emergence was stimulated by demand-side or supply-side pressures. Many participants suggested that this trend was fueled by supply-side pressures. Promotion to partner and "associate leveraging" were both part of the culture. As the number of partners in a firm increased, there was a corresponding need for additional associates to fund the partners at their accustomed level and rate of increase. This often required associate leveraging, or increasing the associate-to-partner ratio from 1:1 to 2:1 to 3:1 and so on. This cycle then required exponential growth as these new associates would be promoted to partners.
It was suggested that while such supply-side pressures may have been the driving force behind the emergence of Mega-Firms on the East and West Coasts, such growth could not be supported here by Utah's relatively small and fixed client pool. Any growth locally must have been fed by the demand-side, i.e., an increase in the demand for services. This type of growth has occurred in Utah in part because of: (1) clients demanding increased speed and aggressiveness on the part of their legal counsel; (2) increased complexity of laws and regulations; (3) more sophisticated and litigious clients; and (4) economic and demographic growth.
The Study Group considered the rationale behind the recent layoff of 43 associates from the Mega-Firm of Latham & Watkins, a firm that had prided itself in its loyalty to its associates. The layoffs were obviously required for financial reasons. However, the same monetary savings could have been achieved by laying off a few junior partners, which...
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