Expert Witness Impact? Law Firm Slowdown in 2008?

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article noting that many authorities in the legal industry believe that 2008 will represent a "work slow down" for law firms. The article notes that the turbulence in the credit industry has reduced the speed of "private-equity, real-estate and structured-finance deals." Similarly, mergers-and-acquisitions work has fallen in comparison to the previous year, as has work on initial public offerings.

Don't sell off that sailboat or Corvette yet though. Many firms are seeing opportunities in the area of subprime litigation and in representing businesses in legal investigations into foreign investments. However, because of this, there could be a shortfall of qualified expert witnesses to help defend subprime and impaired credit lenders. Expert witness referral firms are stocking up, but consider moving quickly if you are getting in to such litigation and need an expert in this field.