California’s Top Firms Find Some Stability, but Continue to Brace Themselves

California's top 25 firms are feeling more stable, but a sense of fragility remains. The firms pulled through 2008 in a variety of ways. Some large firms that were overexposed to capital markets, like Latham & Watkins and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, were forced to lay off hundreds of staff. Others, however, chose salary reductions over big layoffs. Countercyclical practices, like bankruptcy and litigation, took a while to kick in, but firms say they've started to see upticks in those areas.