I know it’s a bit of a meme to call things a Ponzi scheme on HN, but what you’ve described isn’t even close to being a Ponzi scheme. If a big legal firm stops h

I know it’s a bit of a meme to call things a Ponzi scheme on HN, but what you’ve described isn’t even close to being a Ponzi scheme. If a big legal firm stops hiring associates, it’s not going to run out of money, it’s just going to stop growing. It’s also not an especially accurate description of how they work. Business development takes up proportionally more time for senior partners, but you have to have a lot of other management responsibilities before billables stop mattering. Juniors will generally be more concerned utilization, but they’ll also be billing for a lot less.