The Rise and Fall of ‘Megafirm,’ the Word, Is Chronicled in Google Books Database
Anyone with Internet access can use a new Google database of millions of digitized books to chart the frequency of words and phrases over time.
Robert Ambrogi’s LawSites gave Google’s Ngram Viewer a try, and charted the popularity of words describing large and small law firms.
The word “megafirm” began to sharply rise in 1980 and peaked in 2000, Ambrogi writes. “Global law firm” started to gain around 2000, while “large law firm” saw an increase in the early 1960s. The popular blogger term “BigLaw,” however, “isn’t even a blip” in the database.
“Solo practitioner,” on the other hand, reached its peak around 1974.
The New York Times reported on the database in a story last week. It found that Mickey Mouse and Marilyn Monroe don’t get nearly as many mentions as Jimmy Carter, and the word “grilling” was less popular than “roasting” and “frying” until 2004.
