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&lt;p&gt;It&amp;rsquo;s time for a reality check:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;middot;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Layoffs continue &lt;br&gt;&amp;middot;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Firms are slashing associate salaries &lt;br&gt;&amp;middot;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Bonuses are down &lt;br&gt;&amp;middot;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; A &amp;ldquo;surge of outsourcing associate work&amp;rdquo; is predicted &lt;br&gt;&amp;middot;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; And &amp;ldquo;those 2009 financials are going to be ugly.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nevertheless, &amp;ldquo;the number of people taking the Law School Admission Test is at an unprecedented high.&amp;rdquo; Which prompts WSJ Law Blogger Ashby Jones to offer some useful advice to starry-eyed (or &amp;ldquo;directionless&amp;rdquo;) lawyer-wannabes: &amp;ldquo;I&amp;rsquo;d encourage you to ask yourselves, LSAT-takers, is there anything else you&amp;rsquo;d rather be? Try that first. Law school will always be there.&amp;ldquo;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Law school might always be there, but it&amp;rsquo;s questionable whether BigLaw (at least in its current form) will be. In &amp;ldquo;Secrets of the Stars,&amp;rdquo; one of the latest additions to the future-of-law series, professor Pat Chew and management consultant Robert Kelley argue that, &amp;ldquo;like every other enterprise hit by the meltdown, law firms need to rethink their entire business model.&amp;rdquo; Among their suggestions:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;middot;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Move away from the leveraged, &amp;ldquo;high-priced associate model,&amp;rdquo; which is not in the client&amp;rsquo;s interest. &lt;br&gt;&amp;middot;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Consider whether &amp;ldquo;the cost of making your firm a more humane place to work through a better life/work balance &amp;hellip; [might] be offset by lower turnover, higher morale and greater productivity.&amp;rdquo; &lt;br&gt;&amp;middot;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;ldquo;Instead of firing less productive partners, teach them how to become star performers.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(But according to one law firm coach, those who shoot for the stars are not aiming high enough; one should strive for superstardom.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;- posted by vera&lt;/p&gt;

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