In a special New York Times section on business and law, Andrew Ross Sorkin opines: “As regulations change and the threat of litigation rises, the importance of lawyers has never been greater.” He, and writers in the rest of the section, then go on to talk about the downward pressures on private law firms to sustain profits per partner and the burgeoning crisis in private practice, symbolized by the collapse of Dewey & LeBoeuf and the exodus of young associates.