Rise In Lateral Moves Offers Actionable Intelligence For Law Firms

Lateral attorney movement and law firm growth in 2017.

What You’ll Learn in This Whitepaper:

  • Current market overview
  • Drivers affecting the rise in lateral hires
  • The difference between firms in growth versus stagnation mode
  • Practice area and regional differences
  • Practice area success

Lateral movement tracking reports generated by Leopard Firmscape indicate there has been a steady rise in lateral attorney hires since 2014 among the nation’s Top 200 law firms. Consisting of data from more
than 6,000 lateral moves tracked since 2012, this article provides critical intelligence important to the business development concerns of law firms.

Lateral hires within the Top 200 Law Firms in the United States were tracked by Firmscape from 2012 through the third quarter of 2016. Data indicates that lateral hires have been on the rise since 2014. In 2012, Firmscape tracked 5,840 lateral moves. That number dropped slightly in 2013 but rebounded in 2014 and 2015. This year, up to and including third-quarter results, Firmscape tracked a total to date of 6,741 lateral moves.

All indicators suggest lateral moves for 2016 will easily surpass previous years. As a matter of fact, lateral hires are currently outpacing new hires 2 to 1.

The data prompts the questions: What are the drivers affecting the rise in lateral hires? What is the difference between firms in growth versus stagnation mode?

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