Similarly to the decline observed in new attorney job listings last month, and considering more news about law firm layoffs, it’s no surprise that lateral law firm hiring also experienced a dip in February, compared to both the previous month and year-over-year. As illustrated in the chart below, law firm hiring has steadily declined since October 2023, dropping from a peak of 1,957 new hires that month to just 1,314 hires in February.
Moreover, lateral law firm hiring dropped by nearly 17% as compared to February of 2023, and a nearly 44% decline as compared to February of 2022. As seen in the chart below, this is the slowest February for lateral hiring in the last 5 years.
Although law firm hiring was relatively slow in February, some firms did bring on a number of attorneys. Notwithstanding layoffs in the capital markets group of the Hong Kong office, Kirkland hired more lateral attorneys than any other firm tracked by Firm Prospects, with 38 hires in February, followed by Greenberg Traurig with 20 and Wilson Elser with 18.
Litigation was still the dominant practice area into which new attorneys were hired, but there was an uptick in the percentage of hires into corporate groups in February as compared to the prior month. In January, 11.4% of all hires were corporate, as compared to 13.1% in February, an increase of nearly 15%.
The class of 2020 edged out the class of 2021 with the most lateral moves in February, with 118 members of the class of 2020 making a move, followed by 115 from the class of 2021, which had the most lateral moves in January.
In conclusion, while February saw a notable downturn in lateral law firm hiring, reflecting broader trends in the legal industry, certain firms demonstrated resilience, including Kirkland, Greenberg Traurig, and Wilson Elser. Moreover, perhaps the slight shift toward corporate practices is an indicator of additional deal flow, which could potentially lead to an uptick in hiring in 2024.
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