BigLaw - (Chicago Law and Society) by Mitt Regan (Hardcover)

About the Book

"This is a study on how the culture and practices of large corporate law-firms and lawyers have responded to the contemporary competitive market for legal services. Focusing on the period since 2008, when the Great Recession caused a precipitous decline in big-firm revenues, Mitt Regan and Lisa Rohrer look at how big firms have changed the way they practice law through a series of interviews with over 250 partners and associates at big law firms. The authors center their research on the large law firm because the influence of so-called "BigLaw" is felt throughout the industry"--

Book Synopsis

The Great Recession intensified large law firms' emphasis on financial performance, leading to claims that lawyers in these firms were now guided by business rather than professional values. Based on interviews with more than 250 partners in large firms, Mitt Regan and Lisa H. Rohrer suggest that the reality is much more complex. It is true that large firm hiring, promotion, compensation, and termination policies are more influenced by business considerations than ever before and that firms actively recruit profitable partners from other firms to replace those they regard as unproductive. At the same time, law firm partners continue to seek the non-financial rewards of being members of a distinct profession and are sensitive to whether their firms are committed to providing them. Regan and Rohrer argue that modern firms responding effectively to business demands while credibly affirming the importance of non-financial professional values can create strong cultures that enhance their ability to weather the storms of the modern legal market.

Review Quotes

"Drawing on interviews with more than 250 partners in large firms, Regan and Rohrer find that hiring, promotion, compensation, and termination policies in large US law firms are more influenced by business considerations than ever before and that firms actively recruit profitable partners from other firms to replace those they regard as unproductive. But at the same time, partners continue to seek the non-financial rewards of being members of a distinct profession and are sensitive to whether their firms are committed to providing them."-- "Law & Social Inquiry"

"Explores how large firms are responding to intensifying competition and what this means for lawyers' understandings of themselves as professionals, focusing on interviews conducted between 2009 and 2016 with partners in large US law firms to assess the claim that business concerns are eclipsing professional values in law firm practice."-- "Journal of Economic Literature"

About the Author

Mitt Regan is McDevitt Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the Center on Ethics and the Legal Profession at Georgetown Law Center. Lisa H. Rohrer is a senior fellow at the Center on Ethics and the Legal Profession at Georgetown Law Center and a senior advisor at Fairfax Associates.