Steven J. Harper is an adjunct professor at Northwestern University and author of “The Lawyer Bubble: A Profession in Crisis” (Basic Books, April 2013; paperback with new afterword coming in March 2016), and other books. He retired as a partner at Kirkland & Ellis in 2008 after 30 years in private practice. He blogs about the legal profession at The Belly of the Beast, and a version of the column above was first published on that website.