The Great Recession may have officially ended years ago, but in hard-hit states such as Rhode Island, the effects still linger. While the state's unemployment rate has shown dramatic improvement, limited growth continues to plague pockets of the state economy, including the legal industry.
As this week's cover story shows, what it means to be big has changed in a legal market now dominated by midsized firms. To be sure, the change began well before the Great Recession. But the trickle-down effect of limited business expansion across economic sectors in recent years has contributed to stagnation in the overall legal industry.
That's not necessarily bad news for clients willing to shop for the best rates, or smaller firms able to emphasize customer service in a competitive industry.
But it's not a good sign for the overall economy when any industry fails to grow over a period of years or, in this case, decades.
Like business leaders in other industries across the state, local law firms see a glimmer of hope in the news that a GE Digital office is expected to open in Providence and bring at least 100 jobs. While parent General Electric Co. has its own in-house lawyers, the hope in the legal industry – and among state leaders – is that the move will inspire confidence in other businesses to come to the Ocean State or expand here.
Until that happens in a significant way, the Great Recession will continue to be more than just a memory in the Ocean State for law firms and other affected businesses. •
