No surprise at all. They heydey of litigation is over -- everything settles, what doesn't goes to arbitration, and the sliver of work that doesn't go to arbitra

No surprise at all. They heydey of litigation is over -- everything settles, what doesn't goes to arbitration, and the sliver of work that doesn't go to arbitration goes to trial. In the meantime, the market is absolutely flooded with new grads who are eager to live the life. In addition, the old guard is retiring later. At the same time, there is a tremendous amount of legal work to be done in our ultra regulated economy. The end result is pretty predictable. Salaries are abysmal. Associates compete brutally with each other to handle mind numbing hours of document review 7 days a week. Trial experience is very rare making it difficult to move up and do 'real' litigation. I think the starting salary for an attorney fresh out of school in my city is around $40-50k, 60-80hr weeks. Hardly what most people imagine when they go to law school!