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&lt;p&gt;A recent client advisory released by the consultants at Hildebrandt Baker Robbins and the Private Bank division of Citigroup reaches the lawyerly, circumspect conclusion that a &amp;ldquo;persuasive argument can be made&amp;rdquo; that we are witnessing &amp;ldquo;fundamental and long-lasting changes in the legal market.&amp;rdquo; (See also this Eversheds report discussed here.)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Among Hildebrandt&amp;rsquo;s none-too-surprising findings:&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;bull; Outside counsel spending dropped nearly 11% in 2009. (By contrast, between 2001-2007, demand rose about 4% annually.)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;bull;  AmLaw 100 firms were harder hit by the drop in demand than firms in the AmLaw200 and smaller firms.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;bull;  Good news: a significant rise in demand for M&amp;amp;A, general corporate, tax, capital markets, and real estate in Q4 of 2009, suggesting to some the economy has bottomed out. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;bull;  During the years just before the Recession, the number of partners increased at higher rate than the number of lawyers generally. As a consequence many firms now find themselves &amp;ldquo;overpartnered.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;On that last&amp;mdash;&amp;ldquo;overpartnering&amp;rdquo;&amp;mdash;point, Hildebrandt predicts that firms will address this situation through the use of &amp;ldquo;sharper compensation differentiations, early retirement packages, and &amp;lsquo;tough love&amp;rsquo; conversations.&amp;rdquo; The authors also &amp;ldquo;expect to see a general paring back of the ranks of income partners across the market, as well as a general weeding out of marginal equity partners.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;On the part of partners, there is a marked lack of to discuss this prospect of their peers&amp;mdash;made guys!&amp;mdash; getting whacked. In this new reality, increasing numbers of partners will be cast aside as if there were merely&amp;mdash;gulp&amp;mdash;fungible associates. Liz Kurtz, of the consistently excellent Technolawyer BigLaw newsletter, managed to get two BigLaw partners to speak to her on this touchy topic, albeit anonymously: &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Said one:&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;&quot;Do I think that partners can realistically expect to escape this recession unscathed? Of course not. Do I think that some partners should be shielded from the consequences of their own failure&amp;mdash;or inability&amp;mdash;to perform? Frankly: no. But it&#39;s such a sensitive issue that no one is willing to discuss it outside of the firm.&quot;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Said another:&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt; [G]etting rid of weak performers is classic &#39;survival of the fittest.&#39; But if too many partners are let go, it can be very traumatic to the practice group or the firm as a whole&amp;mdash;like cutting off an arm to save the body.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;posted by brian&lt;/p&gt;

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