International law firms will no longer be able to pump new lawyers into booming practice areas and expanding international offices, even after the recession ends, according to the head of one of the world’s biggest firms.

‘You will see less of the crazy, untamed growth in many market areas,’ Wim Dejonghe, managing partner at Allen & Overy, told the Gazette in an interview. ‘The growth will be slower. Staff numbers may be lower, and the rush to recruit will not come back.’

Allen & Overy recently completed a restructuring that resulted in a 9% cut in staff worldwide, including partners, associates and support staff. Dejonghe said that from 2011 the firm will recruit 9% fewer graduates – about 12 fewer graduates per year.

The era of rapid international expansion is over, he suggested. ‘Emerging markets have been much more volatile than established markets,’ he said. ‘The question is, how much investment do you keep there? Our view is that once we go into a new market, we stay there. But that does not mean we will not modify our staffing there.’

Dejonghe suggested that intellectual property litigation was ‘recession proof’ and an important growth area. The introduction of alternative business structures in 2011 will have little effect on the future of A&O, he predicted.