January 2009
Special Recession Issue
Illustration by John Ritter
Some very hard times are on the horizon.
Stock markets have cratered, credit markets have seized up, and nothing the regulators have done seems to have had much impact on an economy that looks as bad as it has looked since the Great Depression.
How did we come to this, and what role did the work of lawyers play? What effect will the downturn likely have on the business of law on both Wall Street and Main Street? And how can you survive the slump?
This special issue begins to answer those questions.
We look back to the last great legal recession for clues about how this bust is likely to play out.
Continue reading...In This Issue
Feature Section
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What a Legal Recession Looks Like
Today’s big-firm associates and junior partners weren’t even in law school during the last deep, sustained legal recession.
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Rollin’ the Dice on Parkdale Road
Financial institutions gambled billions on millions of mortgages like this one.
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Recession-Proof Your Practice
10 tips to protect your firm in the toughest times.
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Situations Wanted
If you’re hiring, these 7 are worthy of your consideration.
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‘You’re History.’ Now What?
Be creative, persistent in your search for the next job.
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Justice Systems Sent Reeling
State and local justice systems are feeling the effects of the economic crisis (Interactive Map)
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Pooling Practices
Law firms are creating task forces to meet demands of a fast-developing crisis.
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14,307 Lawyers Predict the Future
Most American lawyers expect the recession to affect a broad swath of the legal profession and last for quite some time.
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‘We had to talk to the debtors to get smart’
Dennis Dunne, partner at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy
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‘Every day was totally pressure-filled, client-filled. There was no break.’
H. Rodgin Cohen, chairman of Sullivan & Cromwell
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‘I need to advise them to fall behind on their payments, and that’s ludicrous to me.’
Arnettia Wright, sole practitioner, Wright Law Group
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‘You can’t calm directors by telling them it’s all going to be OK.’
Robert Joffe, partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore
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‘The best time to get divorced for the moneyed spouse is when everything has gone to the devil.’
Eleanor Breitel Alter, partner with Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman
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‘All of these state regulators are involved; the press is waiting outside. The stakes are high.’
Angela Angelakos, enforcement attorney, Office of the Illinois Secretary of State, Securities Department
ABA Connection
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How Lawyers Enabled The Meltdown
And how they might have prevented it.
Opening Statements
- Lighting a Path
- Employing the Law
- Lehman by the Numbers
- Lost in Translation
- Yes We Can
- Calling It In
