Each week, the Law.com Barometer newsletter, powered by the ALM Global Newsroom and Legalweek, brings you the trends, disruptions, and shifts our reporters and editors are tracking through coverage spanning every beat and region across the ALM Global Newsroom. The micro-topic coverage will not only help you navigate the changing legal landscape but also prepare you to discuss these shifts with thousands of legal leaders at Legalweek 2023, taking place March 20-23, 2023 in New York City. Registration is now open. Secure your ticket today.

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The Shift: The Upheaval in Big Law Will Make History

The lower legal services demand environment is placing more pressure on law firms, partnerships and individual lawyers to make all sorts of choices that will define themselves and their firms for years to come. Law firm partnerships are undergoing big decisions about whether to merge, law firm executives are considering layoffs, some partner groups are splitting off for other firms, and some top lawyers are changing firms this year or starting their own boutiques.

Gone are the days where the fast pace of work and easy profits would chill some lateral moves and big merger decisions. Now that some practice areas have slowed down, and now that there's more pressure on law firms' bottom line, firms and partners are considering options they have put off for years or hadn't considered at all.