Adam Cohen's Wednesday opinion piece in the IHT discusses the challenges--and opportunities for change--faced by the legal profession in the downturn, as more and more high-end firms are laying off lawyers. 

Cohen says now might be a good opportunity to reign in bloated compensation at top private firms, which would in turn reduce pressure on younger associates to work obscene hours, reduce the pay gap between public service and private practice, and reduce the onerous legal fees built into many industries' costs.  Furthermore it could help to reduce the high cost and huge resulting debt of a legal education, which forces many graduates away from public service into private practice. 

Cohen concludes: "The past few decades of prosperity made a lot of lawyers wealthy, but they were not always good for the profession. Law school deans, bar association leaders and firm managers should follow Rahm Emanuel’s advice about never allowing a crisis to go to waste and start planning for what comes next."