Why Is There So Much Attorney Hiring Volatility At The Major Am Law 100 Firms?

Ed. note: This is the latest installment in a series of posts from Lateral Link’s team of expert contributors. Michael Allen is the CEO of Lateral Link. He is based in the Los Angeles office and focuses exclusively on Partner and General Counsel placements for top firms and companies. Prior to founding Lateral Link in 2006, he worked as an attorney at both Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Irell & Manella LLP. Michael graduated summa cum laude from the University of California, San Diego before earning his JD, cum laude, from Harvard Law School.

In the prior rolling 12 months, we have seen over 7,000 attorney GAINS at the major Am Law 100 firms and over 12,000 attorney LOSSES at the major Am Law 100 firms.  Some folks outside the legal industry may find this number hard to believe given how sticky attorneys appear in their jobs.

Here is a quick snapshot of the attorney gains made by the major Am Law 100 firms courtesy of Leopard Solutions (Laterals into Firms – September 8, 2016 to September 8, 2017).

Firm	Associate	Partner	Counsel	Total
Total	4705	1701	864	7270
Akerman LLP	46	28	2	76
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP	42	10	11	63
Alston & Bird LLP	40	16	5	61
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP	25	3	3	31
Baker Botts LLP	29	19	5	53
Baker Donelson	24	6	12	42
Baker McKenzie	85	38	11	134
BakerHostetler	42	21	13	75
Ballard Spahr LLP	31	6	7	44
Barnes & Thornburg LLP	11	17	8	36
Blank Rome LLP	37	13	9	59
Boies Schiller Flexner LLP	10	8	3	21
Bryan Cave LLP	29	8	11	48
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP	12	4	6	22
Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP	20	0	1	21
Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton	33	2	2	37
Cooley LLP	63	21	8	92
Covington & Burling	63	13	20	96
Cozen O Connor	41	48	9	98
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP	15	0	0	15
Crowell & Moring LLP	31	16	14	61
Davis Polk & Wardwell	47	3	9	59
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP	33	5	4	42
Dechert LLP	43	10	1	54
DLA Piper	144	81	27	252
Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP	30	16	7	53
Duane Morris LLP	35	17	14	66
Faegre Baker Daniels	36	9	5	50
Fenwick & West	21	4	2	27
Fish & Richardson	13	1	0	14
Foley & Lardner LLP	24	13	15	52
Fox Rothschild LLP	44	28	12	84
Fragomen	55	1	1	57
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP	35	8	10	53
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP	54	23	4	81
Goodwin	61	15	8	84
Greenberg Traurig LLP	76	41	14	131
Haynes and Boone, LLP	20	6	4	30
Hogan Lovells	108	29	3	140
Holland & Knight LLP	47	35	15	97
Hunton & Williams LLP	37	6	4	47
Husch Blackwell LLP	24	10	18	52
Jackson Lewis PC	58	21	18	97
Jenner & Block LLP	16	19	8	43
Jones Day	94	38	11	143
K & L Gates	67	38	18	123
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP	25	11	9	45
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP	26	6	10	42
King & Spalding LLP	52	28	9	89
Kirkland & Ellis LLP	182	56	7	245
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP	23	1	1	25
Latham & Watkins LLP	133	22	14	169
Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP	170	86	4	260
Littler Mendelson PC	126	14	9	149
Locke Lord LLP	19	7	11	37
Mayer Brown LLP	60	19	10	89
McDermott Will & Emery LLP	57	42	8	107
McGuireWoods LLP	73	27	12	112
Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP	42	10	3	55
Mintz Levin	40	2	6	48
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP	120	38	12	170
Morrison & Foerster LLP	56	12	7	75
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough	28	20	17	65
Nixon Peabody LLP	24	13	7	44
Norton Rose Fulbright	66	21	22	109
O Melveny & Myers LLP	15	9	6	30
Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC	75	22	38	135
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP	56	14	4	74
Paul Hastings LLP	37	6	6	49
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP	29	3	9	41
Pepper Hamilton LLP	28	2	5	35
Perkins Coie	64	15	13	92
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP	28	20	10	58
Polsinelli PC	47	41	5	93
Proskauer Rose LLP	42	12	4	58
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP	47	12	2	61
Reed Smith LLP	74	32	11	117
Ropes & Gray LLP	53	5	4	62
Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP	12	2	4	18
Seyfarth Shaw LLP	42	16	29	87
Shearman & Sterling LLP	39	10	13	62
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP	43	18	7	68
Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP	8	2	4	14
Sidley Austin LLP	87	23	13	123
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP	29	6	12	47
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP	50	6	9	65
Squire Patton Boggs	46	22	9	77
Steptoe & Johnson LLP	14	11	1	26
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP	22	4	8	34
Troutman Sanders LLP	42	20	11	73
Venable LLP	42	17	11	70
Vinson & Elkins LLP	30	3	1	34
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz	3	0	0	3
Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP	33	4	1	38
White & Case	43	15	2	60
Williams & Connolly LLP	7	0	1	8
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP	30	8	7	45
WilmerHale	44	10	5	59
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati	50	3	9	62
Winston & Strawn LLP	72	68	10	150

On the other hand, I find it equally impressive how many attorneys the major Am Law 100 firms have shed during the same time period — a whopping 12,000!

Here is a quick snapshot of the attorney losses made by the major Am Law 100 firms courtesy of Leopard Solutions (Laterals into Firms – September 8, 2016 to September 8, 2017).

Firm	Associate	Partner	Counsel	Total
Total	8160	2488	1607	12255
Akerman LLP	33	34	7	74
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP	48	14	35	97
Alston & Bird LLP	54	20	10	84
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP	111	22	16	149
Baker Botts LLP	90	21	7	118
Baker Donelson	35	18	28	81
Baker McKenzie	164	74	17	255
BakerHostetler	65	33	16	114
Ballard Spahr LLP	43	12	18	73
Barnes & Thornburg LLP	19	16	11	46
Blank Rome LLP	43	16	23	82
Boies Schiller Flexner LLP	31	12	3	46
Bryan Cave LLP	51	19	33	103
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP	62	18	20	100
Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP	50	1	8	59
Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton	168	4	3	175
Cooley LLP	75	20	14	109
Covington & Burling	64	3	10	77
Cozen O Connor	31	23	12	66
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP	85	4	3	92
Crowell & Moring LLP	26	15	28	69
Davis Polk & Wardwell	145	5	11	161
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP	95	3	4	102
Dechert LLP	126	10	7	143
DLA Piper	182	83	56	321
Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP	58	15	15	88
Duane Morris LLP	44	28	10	82
Faegre Baker Daniels	41	23	9	73
Fenwick & West	38	4	2	44
Fish & Richardson	25	27	6	58
Foley & Lardner LLP	53	27	27	107
Fox Rothschild LLP	42	33	11	86
Fragomen	66	3	3	72
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP	61	10	3	74
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP	133	16	3	152
Goodwin	106	17	9	132
Greenberg Traurig LLP	120	64	28	212
Haynes and Boone, LLP	49	11	16	76
Hogan Lovells	162	24	30	216
Holland & Knight LLP	54	45	23	122
Hunton & Williams LLP	66	19	10	95
Husch Blackwell LLP	39	22	19	80
Jackson Lewis PC	56	27	7	90
Jenner & Block LLP	37	14	5	56
Jones Day	233	46	32	311
K & L Gates	143	95	24	262
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP	30	17	10	57
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP	44	14	7	65
King & Spalding LLP	67	35	9	111
Kirkland & Ellis LLP	178	63	11	252
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP	22	4	9	35
Latham & Watkins LLP	226	21	13	260
Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP	133	86	5	224
Littler Mendelson PC	83	30	8	121
Locke Lord LLP	49	49	45	143
Mayer Brown LLP	133	35	19	187
McDermott Will & Emery LLP	52	57	12	121
McGuireWoods LLP	79	26	33	138
Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP	92	9	5	106
Mintz Levin	35	19	6	60
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP	137	37	39	213
Morrison & Foerster LLP	113	23	27	163
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough	24	18	15	57
Nixon Peabody LLP	49	27	20	96
Norton Rose Fulbright	257	96	58	411
O Melveny & Myers LLP	56	9	26	90
Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC	47	21	17	85
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP	93	26	15	134
Paul Hastings LLP	145	26	19	190
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP	117	6	12	135
Pepper Hamilton LLP	48	28	11	87
Perkins Coie	50	23	30	103
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP	42	18	20	80
Polsinelli PC	49	47	15	111
Proskauer Rose LLP	91	18	13	122
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP	82	7	7	96
Reed Smith LLP	113	61	24	198
Ropes & Gray LLP	162	37	10	209
Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP	39	4	3	46
Seyfarth Shaw LLP	41	27	35	103
Shearman & Sterling LLP	74	16	18	108
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP	57	15	13	85
Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP	23	15	6	44
Sidley Austin LLP	169	51	47	267
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP	119	12	14	145
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP	170	12	16	198
Squire Patton Boggs	79	34	19	132
Steptoe & Johnson LLP	19	12	10	41
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP	118	4	11	133
Troutman Sanders LLP	44	25	11	80
Venable LLP	40	25	15	80
Vinson & Elkins LLP	71	20	9	100
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz	20	0	4	24
Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP	164	15	6	185
White & Case	115	40	12	167
Williams & Connolly LLP	10	5	4	19
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP	73	7	4	84
WilmerHale	78	20	48	146
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati	114	12	20	146
Winston & Strawn LLP	90	50	16	156

Some of the reasons are obvious and expected, such as retiring, relocating, going in-house, or just getting out of the lawyer business altogether.  Given Lateral Link’s day-to-day routine of assisting attorneys to make lateral moves, I’d like to focus on the lateral attorney market.  Below are some general observations.

Net partner gain probably indicates accretive revenue growth (to the extent we are talking about equity partners).  Net associate gain is less indicative of firm health.  An interesting analogy with associate movement is similar to that of CBOE’s Volatility Index, known by its ticker symbol VIX, which according to Wikipedia is a popular measure of the implied volatility of S&P 500 index options.  We are oftentimes a bit more suspect of firms with a relatively higher lateral associate VIX, meaning high gains accompanied with high losses, i.e., a revolving door.  Although associates coming and going is common place, the degree of volatility affects the firm’s stability (less so in terms of profits because associates are grinding out the hours and not bringing in new business and more so in terms of culture).

In short, we can generally expect more and more partner-, associate-, and counsel-level lateral movement from firms with relatively higher lateral volatility.  That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but is something that we analyze and try to understand when assisting our candidates to make informed decisions about their next job.

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