Los Angeles Law Firms Before and After Recessions

Abstract

Major recessions often prompt significant changes at large law firms. This report studies Los Angeles firms over the past forty years to assess the impact of recessions on the Los Angeles legal market. It tracks the number of lawyers working in the Los Angeles offices of a sample of national law firms (half founded in Los Angeles and half founded outside of Los Angeles) over three recessions. It concludes that significant reductions in the attorneys employed by law firm offices after a recession largely reflect reversals of extraordinary growth prior to the recession. Because Los Angeles law firm offices were not expanding prior to 2020, the impact of the 2020 recession on the number of lawyers employed by national firms in Los Angeles may be modest.

JEL Classification: Legal Profession, Law firms, Los Angeles Law Firms