Last night, as America overwhelmingly expressed its desire for change, New York erupted in celebrations reminiscent of that glorious day when the Mets defeated Baltimore for the World Series title in 1969. All the euphoria aside, though, we are now in the midst of a political tsunami which rivals its economic counterpart in intensity, and the combined impact of these storms only remains to be seen.

Our expectation is that, at least in the short term, law firm layoffs will diminish as businesses reassess their prospects, and the optimism that President-elect Obama has generated will be reflected not only in attorney retention, promotion and hiring but also in good initiatives. One great law firm, Lowenstein Sandler, has taken the landscape-altering events of late as an opportunity to create a new group to focus on pro bono work. See http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202425794615: “[There is] a heightened obligation to step up our efforts now,” says Kenneth Zimmerman, who heads up the group. “It is particularly important at times like this for our attorneys to feel connected with what’s going on in the community and give them an opportunity to help in some small way.”

We at Hanover Legal congratulate Barack Obama and his supporters for conducting a brilliant campaign culminating in the historic election of our first African-American president, and are excited to play our small role as well in helping to usher in a period of positive change in the world of the business of law.