The competition for top legal talent continues to intensify. As law firms fight to attract skilled professionals, retain star partners, and keep their best junior lawyers, a new trend is emerging in the lateral market: large group moves. These high-profile shifts are happening not just in major cities like New York and Chicago, but across fast-growing legal hubs such as Boston, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Denver, and Miami.
Interestingly, the law firms behind these group moves are not always the biggest players. Firms of all sizes, from the Am Law 50 to the Am Law 200, are following this trend. In fact, several instances from 2024 saw firms make major moves involving a dozen or more lawyers. For example, 14 attorneys switched firms to launch a new office in Denver, 17 joined an Am Law 10 firm in Los Angeles, and 18 lawyers, including six partners, moved to open a new office in Atlanta. One UK firm even took a bold step by recruiting 30 lawyers to establish new offices in New York and Los Angeles in early 2025.
Looking ahead, the trend of group moves is expected to continue. Law firms entering new markets often prefer the speed and efficiency of hiring entire teams, rather than adding individuals one by one. This approach allows them to quickly establish a presence in a new location, rather than slowly building up talent.
For managing partners, the logic of hiring a full team is clear. It’s a cost-effective and practical way to open new offices, especially when firms look to enter a market with a solid local reputation. In the fast-growing legal hubs across the US, buying a team from an existing firm can be a quicker, cheaper, and more impactful strategy.
Lateral hiring is particularly strong in key practice areas. With the US economy on a steady growth path, expected to hit or surpass 3 percent GDP growth, demand for legal services remains high. Law firms can also use group moves to meet this demand more efficiently. For instance, a partner in demand may bring along a full team of associates, offering firms a ready-made group that fits seamlessly together.
This strategy is quicker than hiring associates individually, which is often time-consuming and expensive. Bringing in a group also minimizes the risk of cultural clashes that can happen when randomly hired individuals from different firms come together. A larger group creates an immediate impact, establishing a firm’s presence much faster than individual hires.
Early 2025 has already shown signs of a resurgence in lateral hiring, with Am Law 20 firms reporting activity levels similar to 2021, the busiest year on record for lateral moves. This increase is linked to a surge in M&A and private equity deal activity, as the market continues to heat up. With lower interest rates on the horizon, borrowing will become easier, further boosting legal hiring.
Despite the ongoing discussions about tariffs and trade wars, the overall mood in the legal market is optimistic. Since the 2024 elections, there’s been a noticeable uptick in lateral hiring activity, particularly in corporate and transactional practice areas. As stock markets gained momentum in mid-2024, lateral hiring followed suit, signaling a strong recovery in the legal recruitment space.
After a record number of lateral associate hires in 2021 and 2022, particularly among top Am Law 20 firms, the US legal market is now showing signs of returning to pre-pandemic conditions. The ongoing rise in group lateral hires highlights the continued momentum in the legal recruitment industry.
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