PEP in the big5 has been on a steady decline ever since the international firms have been permitted to prsctice local law. The firms have been struggling to maintain PEP in the face of rising staff costs. This means existing asssocs have to work much harder and longer. It is simply unsustainable and there will be high turnover (just check out the career pages of the big5) because nobody wants to do the long hours for low pay thing slogging for the EPs.

There will be big changes in the local legal scene in the years to come.