Demand for Legal Services Drops

In its quarterly Peer Monitor Economic Index (PMI), Hildebrandt tracks legal-industry economic trends nationwide. For the first quarter of this year, PMI data from California reflects some national trends, including a severe slump in law-firm hours spent on corporate work and a flattening of demand for litigation services (see chart). However, in mergers and acquisitions work, demand in California was way off, dropping 18 percent below the first quarter of last year while national demand rose 1 percent. And though law-firm hours spent on bankruptcy work rose more than 13 percent nationwide, they dipped nearly 7 percent in California. Overall, demand for legal services dropped by 7.4 percent in California, with Silicon Valley hit hardest and San Francisco faring the best.

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