Blog’s 2011 Forecast: Lawyers Will Still Be Miserable, and the Billable Hour Won’t Die
In 2011, law firms will continue to blather on about alternative billing, work-life balance and lawyer morale. But the billable hour won’t die and lawyers will continue to be miserable.
Those are the predictions of The Careerist, who says law firms will push lawyers on two fronts: first, to put in lots of billable hours, and second, to be more productive. There won’t be any shortage of would be lawyers, the blog says, even though law schools won’t be more forthcoming about employment statistics. And there won’t be any shortage of law grads seeking work at large law firms, the blog predicts, despite the long hours and poor quality of life.
The blog also predicts that partnership structures will become more complicated. “One-tier partnerships will quietly go to a two-tier system; two-tier firms will create more tiers,” the blog says. “Soon, equity partner positions will become as rare as black diamonds.”
