BigLaw takes a lot of heat for being slow to change. But overtime, I have learned to not paint BigLaw with too broad a brush.
40 years ago, what would later become the AmLaw 200 was a widely dispersed series of regional oligarchies the divided up the local corporate market. Overtime, these firms decided to grow with their clients– and in the process, many lawyers made a very good living.
What we have now is national marketplace of 100 to 200 law firms with very similar geographic platforms, practice areas, and cost structures.