Lateral hiring at U.S. law firms increased by 14% in 2024, following two years of decline, according to a new report released by the National Association for Law Placement (NALP). The surge was mainly driven by lateral associate hires, which rose by 25% compared to 2023. Lateral partner hiring saw a more modest increase of 2% in 2024.
The uptick in lateral hiring comes as law firms reported a strong year, with high demand across practice areas and increased billing rates. Corporate practices, which had struggled in recent years, saw a significant rebound, while litigation remained robust, as noted by the Thomson Reuters Institute.
The lateral hiring market has fluctuated dramatically in recent years. In 2021, it surged by 111%, driven by a post-pandemic boom in mergers and acquisitions. However, large firms scaled back hiring in 2022 and 2023, resulting in the lowest median and average number of lateral hires since 2010, according to NALP’s executive director, Nikia Gray.
In 2024, nearly 4,300 lateral lawyers were hired by U.S.-based firms across 434 offices, the NALP report shows. Most of these offices were located in firms with more than 1,000 lawyers. The median number of lateral hires was four, with the average at nearly 10. The report also highlighted firm-specific hiring data.
There were notable differences in lateral hiring patterns by firm size. While firms with fewer than 250 lawyers had been more aggressive in lateral hiring in 2022 and 2023, they saw an 11% decrease in 2024. On the other hand, firms with 1,001 or more lawyers increased lateral hiring by 21%.
Lateral hiring also varied across different cities in 2024. While hiring overall rose, markets like Boston, Miami, Minneapolis, Nashville, and Seattle experienced declines in lateral hires.
Additionally, NALP’s report found that slightly more than half of law firm offices (51%) have policies that prevent hiring fully remote lateral lawyers.
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