Big Law Faces Challenges Amid Low Billing Rates and Slow Growth.
TL;DR
The Wells Fargo legal specialty group has warned that more associate layoffs may occur this year due to historically low billable rates. Lawyers at some of the largest US law firms billed at an annual pace of less than 1,600 hours in Q1 2021, the lowest figure in about 15 years. This annual billable rate is "not something firms have historically accommodated," according to Owen Burman, managing director of the Wells Fargo legal specialty group.
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