Each fall, when The American Lawyer magazine, a Daily Report affiliate, surveys the leaders of The Am Law 200 about the state of their firms, the responses are awash in sunny optimism-at least, they have been until now. This year, for the first time since the magazine began polling them in 2003, a substantial number of firm leaders admit to being uneasy about the future. More than a quarter reported that they were uncertain about their firm’s prospects next year, and a few said they felt downright pessimistic. What’s going on
Follow-up interviews with more than a dozen survey respondents from all segments of The Am Law 200 offered some clues. Worries about the current state of the U.S. economy topped the list of concerns. Leaders of transactional firms say they remain unsure of how deeply the credit meltdown will penetrate the M&A and financial markets. Even managing partners who expect their firms to stay busy are hedging their bets, building up bankruptcy and restructuring practices ahead of a potentially long-lasting economic downturn. “People just have a general sense that the pace of activity on the transaction side of the practice is going to crest,” says Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe chair and CEO Ralph Baxter Jr.-although he adds that he is not among the pessimists.
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