Is 'Big Law' Era Over?

From Debra Cassens Weiss at ABA Journal:
Legal blogger David Lat, founding editor of Above the Law, says there may be good reason for lawyers to panic, but they will ultimately survive.
Speaking to law students at the University of California at Berkeley, Lat admitted news of layoffs and other job woes at Above the Law can be anxiety-inducing, according to the Legal Pad blog. But there’s a good reason, he said. “If people are panicked, it’s because there are reasons to panic.”
Lat managed to be “both depressing and extremely jovial at the same time,” according to Legal Pad’s account of his talk. Lat said BigLaw salaries will be decreasing, lockstep promotions are on the way out, and the golden age of the legal profession is likely ending.
Yet the legal profession and lawyers will survive, at least in some form, Lat said. “At the end of the day, lawyers, we are like cockroaches. You can’t kill us.”