Pretend you're a managing partner and imagine this nightmare scenario: The economy is quickly tanking and clients, upset over $160,000 first-years and skyrocketing legal fees, are demanding rate cuts and other discounts, if they are not pulling low-level work altogether. This makes the firm's ability to skillfully handle ever more complex and premium rate matters paramount. Meanwhile, the pool of talent available to service and attract such work is dwindling. The really bad news? This isn't a hypothetical. Firm leaders are up at night worrying about talent and how they're going to retain it.
