Each year, the National Law Journal publishes a list of 20 successful midsize firms (50-150 lawyers), called the Midsize Hot List.   You can see the 2011 version here.

A thought-provoking blog post from law firm management consultant Hildebrandt.

Last year, we linked to a couple of articles (here and here) reporting that (at least some) midsize firms (100-300 attorneys) appeared to be weathering the economic downturn better than their Biglaw counterparts.

However, according to the Hildebrandt blogger (and we agree!), just as large law firms have had to adapt their business model to new economic realities, midsize firms have to make some big changes as well.  Hildebrandt’s blog post suggests what those changes may look like.    

We’ve written about this before (here), but a recent article in the National Law Journal (via law.com) makes the point that more regional firms in cities whose economies were not so tied to capital markets are faring better during the current economic crisis.  Some are even taking advantage of the crisis to take on new talent and expand into other regions. 

The National Law Journal published a piece entitled “Midsize Midwest Firms Steady In a Storm.”  It makes the point that these types of firms [which don't generally come to OCIP] have, by and large, not felt the impact of the economy anywhere near as badly as large firms in large cities, which tend to be more dependent on M & A and capital markets.   As the article notes:  ”Less expensive overhead, lawyers with broader skill sets and lower billing rates have also helped . . .”  Read the whole thing.