As regulars will know, we like to keep abreast of events across the water and a quick peak through the telescope gives the impression that we are heading for more stormy weather. Common sense would tell  most in the profession that things are going to get a little rougher in the near future but new research has revealed some stats to go with those hunches. To put you in the mood click on the redundancy tag at the top if you really have to.

The research from the National Law Journal ’s 250 survey shows that staff growth at America’s largest law firms slowed in 2008, with a host of major firms contracting in the face of the juddering economy. The group added 4.3% more lawyers over the last 12 months compared to 5.6% growth in 2007. The 2007 gains represented the largest increase in lawyer numbers since 2001, when numbers ballooned by 8.2%. 2006 law firm growth was 4% and in 2005 it was 4.4%. So still growing then? Let see the bigger picture…

The Am Law Daily reported that the US legal services sector shed 1,100 jobs in October as contraction in the country’s economy continued to hit law firm employment, reports. Furthermore, according to figures released on Friday by the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, the total number of jobs in the legal industry has decreased by 1.1% since October 2007 to 1.16 million employees. This includes not just lawyers but anyone on payroll, including paralegals, public relations specialists, secretaries etc. making it the lowest number of people employed in the sector since December 2005, according to Bureau’s figures.

Brace yourselves!

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