This post at Faculty Lounge says likely yes, forecasting:
a gradual transformation, already well underway, from large numbers of “up or out” partnership-track associates and accompanying high levels of turnover to much more modest numbers of entry-level hires and a partnership “track” of indeterminate length. Larger numbers of nonpartners who prove themselves sufficiently skilled and hardworking will remain indefinitely (or move laterally to similar indefinite-term positions at other firms), and equity partnership will be reserved for those who actually attract and control substantial paying law business. It is possible that the partnership “track” as such will vanish altogether, to be replaced by more generalized paths of advancement in responsibility and compensation based on accomplishment, skill, and success in business generation. Whether or not we see the end of the partnership track at many firms, however, I predict that this trend combined with the evolving staffing model for legal process work discussed in my last post will result in distinctly smaller numbers of highly compensated entry-level hires in BigLaw for many years to come.
