In the same way that the Imperial Justice Laws in 1879 grafted new institutions onto a preexisting framework, the reforms faced a practicing bar in Germany that already consisted of 4,091 lawyers. But the new rules of freie Advokatur, combined with demographic growth, economic change, and political upheaval between 1879 and 1933 to change dramatically the shape and texture of the bar and the nature of private practice. Free entry and economic opportunity offered new vistas of opportunity for ambitious young men and drew new social elements into the private practice of law. Economic dynamism in large cities made them magnets that attracted many new practitioners, while other cities, formerly important, fell into stagnation because economic growth passed them by. Some previously sleepy towns grew into economic powerhouses, thus inevitably attracting lawyers to serve new clients. As the bar grew, lawyers devised new career strategies and penetrated markets for legal services that they formerly had neglected. Overall, the era of freie Advokatur saw growth and diversification in the practicing bar.

But the changes unleashed in 1879 became apparent only gradually. Persons who had been lawyers under the old system continued to practice under the new, although they faced immediate choices with regard to the place and shape of their legal practices. New members of the bar had to decide where to open their practices and how to seek their livings in entirely changed circumstances and based upon expectations rather than a record of experience.