“Over the course of the summer, leaders at the country’s biggest law firms have come to an unpleasant realization: They’re about to employ more lawyers than they need.”

The article points out that “a strange and rigid hiring process" that requires law firms to commit to law students two or more years in advance. Oh yeah, then they pay them $160,000 to train them - which is even more problematic when there are more associates than work to do.

There are some firms looking at changin the way the do hiring. Barnes & Thornburg’s Chicago office recently dissolved its summer-associate program. Per managing partner Mark Rust, “now, when we look at our staffing, we ask, ‘Who is it that we need?’ If we need a restructuring lawyer, we’ll go out and hire one as a third-year or as a lateral attorney. It’s ‘just-in-time inventory.’”