Law firms on average hit a 15-year low for lawyer productivity last year. But Philadelphia's Am Law 200 firms saw a steadier ratio of billable hours per lawyer, suggesting locally rooted law firms are less susceptible to overcapacity-caused mass layoffs than counterparts in New York.

While the industry at large sustained a 6.1% average decrease in lawyer productivity, dragged down by heavily lawyered markets like New York that saw a 9% dip, Philadelphia fared relatively well with only a 4.4% mean decline in productivity, according to year-end survey data released by the Wells Fargo Legal Specialty Group.