As we report today, several years of harder economic times have effected a permanent change in the instruction choices of general counsel in our largest corporations. Even with improved budgets in 2011 and 2012, they are opting to grow headcount in-house, and achieve legal advice coverage through increased use of national, niche and mid-tier UK firms - the magic circle are the headline losers here.

Thrift may have acted as a catalyst, but these findings also reflect enhanced influence for general counsel. In the past, the instruction to set aside one’s day-to-day advisers and ‘send for X’ whenever a matter had a high price tag, or sounded important, was often made over the heads of members of the legal department.

No one is sounding the death knell for the magic circle. But the fact that, in at least one case, a magic circle firm is planning in the future perhaps to be smaller - but with a presence in more jurisdictions - is an acknowledgement that the corporate market is changing and its firms need to adapt.

Of course, none of those necessary adjustments at the financial pinnacle of the profession compare with the economic pain being felt on the high street or in legal aid practices. But it is worth noting that the legal services landscape is changing at all levels. A decade from now it will look quite different.