In an interview with the Business of Law section of Bloomberg, Mr Stewart says: 'Clients are under extreme financial pressure. They have to see us as having skin in the game and that we are with them. That changes the economics for a law firm. I preach to my partners and....to my non-partners every day that this is a battle.'

No return

He recalls the days when, as an associate, he could have expected to inherit the clients of the firm. But he says: 'That's just not the case anymore.' He adds: 'I don't see our ever going back to the old way.' Ballard Spahr has 14 offices in the US, going from Los Angeles to Washington DC. Source: Bloomberg