Disappearing acts pertaining to people, skills and talents have always happened every few years in the global legal services market as the sector continually refreshes itself. But disappearing has never been more prevalent than it has been of late and will become even more common in months and years to come. Act now.
As mentioned in my previous column, I am well aware that my opinions and perspectives especially over the last few years and more so lately are becoming more fearless and urgent as factors impacting the global legal services market surge with a magnitude of force that demands response — not admiration, study, or words — and, most importantly, requires decisive action as the clock of change ticks ever more loudly.
Right now, my concern is for talent transience at all levels within law firms. Talent of all descriptions has been sloshing back and forth and from firm to firm since the pandemic upended how we work. Lately, all levels of law firm talent have quietly retrenched in the hope that keeping mouths shut and heads down will provide safety in an environment undergoing enormous change at the speed of summer lightening.
If only ducking for cover was the answer. However, the working world is now more difficult and will become harder yet. Anyone who has a heart will recognize this struggle in people-terms. However, as a realist, I implore you to realize that law firm life will become more challenging as traditional structures show their age, operational costs and investment requirements increase, and margins become mercilessly lean.
A complete reset is required. This is not about a pivot because a turn will not save a law firm entity. This means a full restructure of how law firms operate and why, along with what tools are expected, required and used, how financing and various forms of it will support the entity, and what talents and skills of humanity are necessary for its survival.
The Law Firm Reset
My last two columns sparked huge reactions. The Law Firm Pyramid Rollover was met with republishing requests, reposts, and commentary. Its companion piece, The Law Firm Private Equity Puzzle, was met with nothing: tomb-like stillness, pin-drop quiet, could-hear-a-mouse-pass-gas silence.
I have been writing opinion columns for legal publications since 2006 and have found that the closer I get to the core of an issue, the quieter the response. Now is no different.
This same core-targeting technique has also been part-and-parcel of my consulting practice, which is to step back to study not just the problem but its context within the big picture before peeling away all that is ancillary to uncover the nut of the issue. Like a sharpshooter, the nut becomes centred in the crosshairs of my sights, I breathe to steady myself, check that others are ready to proceed, and fire. Misson accomplished.
If that sounds mercenary, it often is but it also gets the job done and desired outcome achieved.
And so, here we are with the trigger having been pulled on a legal services market reset that has taken many decades to take form. The reset will both overwhelm and underwhelm its inhabitants depending on where they are in the journey of both their personal and professional lives. But as I have said before, expect massive change to happen well before and certainly by 2030 when the global legal services sector will operate much differently than it does now.
Expect both destruction and rebirth. Many traditionally structured law firms of all sizes and practices will crash and burn because they are inherently fragile and will fail. Likely and unlikely law firm combinations will happen and be politely cloaked as mergers with fallouts of all kinds ensuing after the fact.
From their ashes and also as new builds, we will see legal service entities emerge and flourish as flatter, non-empirical structures that will operate with greater fluidity in terms of talent, technology, offerings, and cost. These entities, which will become much more prevalent, will probably not even be referred to as law firms – and won’t want to be. Nor will they be hamstrung by the lesser-than moniker of alternative legal services provider. They will be sleek, streamlined, client-catering as opposed to client-centric, and entirely different.
Recent Wreckage
Since 2026 began, we have seen three glaring examples of how these changes are playing out in real life. They include the closure of U.S. mid-size firm, McGlinchey Stafford, the crash-and-burn of the U.K.’s PM Law Group, and job cuts at global behemoth, Baker McKenzie.
While these three instances are prime examples of recent upheaval, as of this writing it’s only February. We have a long way to go for the remainder of 2026, never mind my predication that by 2030, the global legal services market will bear no resemblance to what it is today.
Still, let’s sift through some of the most recent wreckage to identify themes.
McGlinchey Stafford, a mid-sized U.S. firm of 160 lawyers based in 18 offices and headquartered in New Orleans announced its wind down after 51 years in early January 2026 and closed on the last day of that month. According to ALM, the equity partners voted to wind down after assessing “several strategic alternatives,” according to a firm press release. The firm cited its shutdown as “the result of a combination of market factors, such as lagging collections, compounded with various internal factors over several years.”
While the dust has yet to settle and, in my experience, there are always numerous factors that stress a law firm or any other business to its breaking point, the underlying cause is almost always money followed closely by people.
In McGlinchey’s case, lagging collections, which is a common problem in many law firms, was among identified issues. “There was no single triggering event or one definitive action that brought us to this point,” the firm said in the news release. “This is not because of any specific attorney’s departure, or any individual financial decision or leadership action that led us to this point.”
On February 1, 2026, PM Law Limited began machinations to close. Its 600-plus people learned the following day that the firm had shut down stranding clients, lawyers, and staff alike. The PM Law group includes more than 20 practices spread across U.K. locations in Yorkshire, Cumbria, and Berkshire with at least 55 fee-earners and dozens of support staff.
Again, the cause appears to be financial. As reported in The Law Society Gazette, “According to the last published accounts for PM Law Limited, covering the year to 31 October 2024, the company had net assets of more than £3m. The firm was owed £6.2m and was due to pay creditors £3.1m within one year. There were no cash reserves.”
Why work-in-progress has ever been considered an asset has always mystified me since WIP exists only on paper. Until a firm receives payment, WIP is as much an illusion as smoke and mirrors. Again, these are early days and the Solicitors Regulation Authority has intervened, so more may be revealed in time.
And finally – at least, as of right now – Baker McKenzie is severing ties with just over 700 people across all offices of its global business services teams, including IT, knowledge, administration, DEI, leadership and learning, marketing, and design among others.
Again, while the underlying cause is money, Baker blames layoffs on artificial intelligence. It said: “To position the firm for continued growth and remain agile in a fast-evolving business context, we recently undertook a careful review of our business professionals functions. This review was aimed at rethinking the ways in which we work, including through our use of AI, introducing efficiencies, and investing in those roles that best serve our clients’ needs.”
“Following the review, and consistent with many other organisations, we are proposing a series of changes to how we operate and deliver important business services. Subject to consultation processes in applicable jurisdictions, some roles will likely be phased out, while others will evolve. We have not taken decisions around these proposed changes lightly, but felt it was necessary to deliver on our long-term plans. We appreciate the valuable contributions our impacted colleagues have made to the Firm and will be supporting them.”
Unfortunately, Unsurprising
None of any of these situations and their results should come as either surprising or a shock. Money is always at the root of almost every upheaval. Add to that, the fact that AI is an efficiency generator, not a wealth creator.
Anyone who keeps their eyes and ears open and stays out of the weeds will have seen this coming since the combination of money and AI carries the velocity of a freight train with the potential to create widespread damage upon collision Therefore, caught between money on one hand and AI on the other, major restructuring and job losses within law firms will remain an ongoing issue for the foreseeable future.
And so there you have it: proof like we need it that the bottom is actively being cleaved off of the traditional law firm pyramid and this now archaic structure is already rolling over and upending like an iceberg.
Advice and Recommendations
Having identified this problem quite some time ago, and seeing it come to fruition, I offer a few pieces of advice that may lead to solutions along with recommendations.
Be a student: If the legal industry is where you want to spend the next five to 10 years – or the entirety of your working life – become a student of it. I don’t mean study your area of practice if indeed you practise law but consistently learn about the entire legal ecosystem and every area of it. Understanding and being completely conversant in the depth and breadth of the legal services sector will enable you to get a sense of what may happen, when, and why. This may also enable you to spot opportunities and get a jump on trends.
Ferris Bueller’s famous last line in the 1986 film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is apt. “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” I use this quote all the time because it’s true. Let it be your guide, too.
Stay curious: Questioning the status quo pertains to challenging the accepted way of doing things. “This is the way we’ve always done it” has been a tired old go-to response that has led to inefficiencies and outdated practices that have hobbled advancements in the legal services sector since time immemorial. This is one of the reasons legal has always been slow as molasses in January to change and is part-and-parcel of the traditional pyramid structure that like many other fossils, may as well be encased in amber.
Those who question the status quo are almost always the same mavericks who shatter the norms, throw out dusty old rule books, and invent new ways of doing things. These people are the true and stalwart leaders among all of us. Be one.
Network with Intention: A simple yet effective recipe for intentional and efficient networking that beats the standard hi-how-are-ya mixer every time is: 1. Target who you need or want to speak with; it’s best if this person is the decision-maker. 2. Request a meeting about a topic that matters to both of you but mostly to them. 3. Set it up and go. 4. Expect to follow up in a helpful manner, and in moderation and at intervals. Schedule and diarize these interactions.
The simplest methods always work best. The most engaging and consistently engaged lawyer I have ever known kept a notepad on the corner of his desk with a running list of people he wanted or needed to speak with each week and about what. By following this method diligently, he became a wildly successful managing partner of a ground-breaking law firm, its key business driver, a community leader, and finally, a member of the Canadian Senate.
Where to From Here
The bottom line is to understand that changing roles and/or law firms, whether or not it is your choice, is not negative if it enables you to learn and grow. However, regardless of whether you are an employee or contractor, you will want to take agency of your own career whenever possible to avoid others dictating how your life unfolds.
For example, and rather ironically, an individual who lost their job due to working with one of the law firms mentioned earlier in this column informed me years ago, and in an authoritative manner, that law firms only want to work with fulltime employees who stay for years. I countered that wide-ranging consultative experiences with various types of law firms and legal service entities are positive and marketable traits.
Obviously, these two points of view are on opposite ends of the workstyle spectrum. One is not better than the other and both are valid. The important factor is to decide what style works best for you, customize it, and expect it to change over time. And always keep your antenna and guard up, and your network refreshed and up to date.
I have long said that keeping your eyes and ears open and staying out of the proverbial weeds will enable a better chance of you being better than okay. It has been solid advice forever, and in the fast-shifting environment in which we are living now, it may be some of the best advice you are ever apt to get – unless, of course, you prefer to go “poof” and disappear. Then again, for some people, that will be an okay option, too.
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