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In the balance

14 August 2009 / Tony Williams
Issue: 7382 / Categories: Features , Profession
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Tony Williams suggests how law firms may be able to recover from the recession

By 30 April 2009 most law firms had substantially completed a round of cost cutting which saw trainee solicitors deferred, associates and support staff made redundant and partners either exited or reduced to a fix share or consultancy roles. After this unprecedented upheaval in law firms, many law firm leaders are now hunkering down and waiting for the market to return to “normal” and for the good times to roll again. Such an approach will be a mistake as, despite the recent recovery in the world’s stock markets, there is still likely to be a relatively sustained period of uncertainty before a level of stability returns to the legal market.

Law is traditionally a lagging indicator of the economy. Although, this time, there was only a short time lag before law firms felt the effect of the recession it may still be 12 to 18 months before the legal market returns to a level that can be described as normal.

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NEWS
Ceri Morgan, knowledge counsel at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP, analyses the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Johnson v FirstRand Bank Ltd, which reshapes the law of fiduciary relationships and common law bribery
The boundaries of media access in family law are scrutinised by Nicholas Dobson in NLJ this week
Reflecting on personal experience, Professor Graham Zellick KC, Senior Master of the Bench and former Reader of the Middle Temple, questions the unchecked power of parliamentary privilege
Geoff Dover, managing director at Heirloom Fair Legal, sets out a blueprint for ethical litigation funding in the wake of high-profile law firm collapses
James Grice, head of innovation and AI at Lawfront, explores how artificial intelligence is transforming the legal sector
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