NALP Bulletin+
April 2025

Read the March 26, 2025 press release on this topic (PDF)

The lateral hiring market declined in 2022 and 2023, as firms course corrected from the over-hiring that took place in 2021's red-hot lateral market. However, in 2024, the lateral hiring market bounced back, with hiring increasing by nearly 14% overall, and lateral associate hiring rising by almost 25%. Partner lateral hiring increased by a more modest 2%, while the hiring of other lateral lawyers, such as staff attorneys and counsel, was relatively flat compared to 2023, according to the results from NALP's 2024 Lateral Hiring Survey. As in prior years, there were variations in lateral hiring across firm sizes, regions, and cities included in the analyses, with a few markets even reporting declines in lateral hiring.

In 2023, despite a lateral market that was down 35% overall, many small firms took advantage of the pull-back in lateral hiring across larger-sized firms. For example, lateral partner hiring was up 21% in firms of 250 or fewer lawyers that year. In 2024, that trend reversed, with total lateral hiring up the most in the largest firms of more than 1,000 lawyers (+21%), while lateral hiring declined (-11%) in smaller firms of 250 or fewer lawyers.

NALP's lateral hiring analyses are based on data collected from U.S. law firms and reflect the respondent pool, which may fluctuate from year-to-year. For calendar year 2024, 434 law offices completed the survey, of which 11% of respondents came from firms of 250 or fewer lawyers, 43% from firms of 251-1,000 lawyers, and 45% from firms of more than 1,000 lawyers. This is consistent with regard to the firm size of 2023 respondents, although the percentage of respondents in the 1,001+ category was higher last year. Firms were asked to report as much individual office level information as possible, but in some cases, firms could only report firm-wide or multi-office data; therefore, in some tables, firm-wide/multi-office and office-specific information are reported separately. Key findings from the survey follow:

Key Findings:

• Based on aggregate hiring information of 4,295 lateral lawyers in 2024, the total volume of hiring increased by 13.9% compared with 2023 in the same offices/firms, with an overall median of 4.0 lateral hires and an average of 9.9 per office/firm. Despite an increase in the average number of lateral hires from 9.3 in 2023; both the average and median number of hires remain below historical levels from 2012-2022. (See Table 1 and Table 5.)

• Lateral associate hiring accounted for 58.8% of all lateral hiring in 2024, while lateral partner hiring accounted for 22.5%. Other lateral hiring, which includes staff attorneys and counsel, comprises 18.6% of lateral hiring. (See Table 1.)

• This year's growth in lateral hiring can be primarily attributed to the large influx in lateral associate hires, which increased by 24.9%. Average lateral associate hiring increased to 5.8 associates per office/firm, compared to 2023's average of 5.1.  (See Table 2.)

• Lateral partner hiring was also up in 2024, albeit a much smaller increase of 2.3%, following a 10.0% decrease in 2023.

• Changes in lateral hiring as compared to 2023 varied by firm size. For example, lateral associate hiring experienced a significant increase within firms of 1,001+ lawyers, up 41.4%; whereas, lateral hiring in firms of 250 of fewer lawyers declined across all lawyer categories this year, with a 14.9% decrease in lateral partner hiring and 13.4% decrease in lateral associate hiring. In contrast, lateral hiring was up across all lawyer categories in firms of 251-1,000 lawyers. (See Chart 1.)

• Measures of median and average number of hires were also wide-ranging. Firms reporting their data on a firm-wide basis had medians ranging from 12 to 100 total lateral hires depending on firm size, and averages of 13.0 to 89.5 hires per firm. (See section of Table 2 labeled "Firm-wide/Multi-office Reports.")

• Among offices reporting hiring activity for a single office, rather than firm-wide, the average number of hires for cities range from 1.2 to 8.2 for lateral associates and 0.1 to 3.8 for lateral partners, with New York City at the top of both ranges. (See section of Table 2 labeled "Office-specific Reports.")

• Regionally, the Mid-Atlantic had the largest increase in overall lateral hiring for single-office reporting (27.1%), with a particularly large increase of 52.4% in New Jersey.

• Among cities reporting at least 40 lateral hires in 2024, the percentage change in lateral hiring from 2023 ranged from a decline of 22.6% in Boston to an increase of 38.2% in the Denver area. (See Chart 2.)

• On a city level, lateral partner hiring varied from a decrease of 80.0% in the Seattle area to an increase of 225% in Charlotte. Similarly, lateral associate hiring varied from a decrease of 60.0% in Nashville to an increase of 66.2% in Los Angeles and Orange County.

• Although there was an overall 13.9% increase in lateral hiring in 2024, outcomes were mixed across cities, regions, and firm sizes. About 48% (47.8%) of all offices experienced an increase of 14% or more in total lateral hiring, leaving about 52% with smaller increases, or even decreases, in lateral hiring. For single-office reporting, city and regional figures range from 20.0% to 78.6% of offices with an increase in lateral hiring above the overall national rate.

• New to this year's survey, NALP asked offices about their post-clerkship associate hiring. These figures are reported separately from all other lateral hiring. Of the 434 total law offices completing the survey, there was an average of 0.8 post-clerkship hires per office/firm. Specific to those offices reporting firm-wide information, post-clerkship averages ranged from 1.0 in firms of 250 or fewer lawyers to 7.7 in firms of more than 1,000 lawyers. Among single offices, averages varied from 0.3 to 0.7 post-clerkship hires, depending on firm size. (See Table 3.)

• For the fourth consecutive year, NALP asked offices about lateral lawyer hires from outside of the firm's geographic areas and who were granted the flexibility to work remotely without relocating. Despite increased activity in the lateral hiring market, fully remote lateral hires remain rare. Out of 210 firms/offices hiring lateral partners in 2024, 12.4% hired lateral partners who did not need to relocate — less than half a percentage point higher than 2023 (12.0%). Fully remote hires were even less likely to be reported among associates. Of the 341 firms/offices hiring lateral associates in 2024, 7.0% hired lateral associates who did not need to relocate — continuing the downward trend from 2023 (13.6%) and 2022 (19.3%). (See Table 4.)

• For the first time this year, NALP also asked offices about general office policies regarding lateral remote hires, independent of firms' remote lateral lawyer hiring count for the calendar year 2024. Most offices do not hire any fully remote hires, as over half (50.8%) of the offices reported their office policy excludes the hiring of any fully remote lateral hires. About 35% of offices considered fully remote lateral partner hires, of which 13.6% of offices had contingencies upon candidates' location being in a geographic area where the firm did not have a physical office. The remaining 21.7% of offices considered fully remote lateral partner hires regardless of whether the candidate was in a geographic area where the firm had a physical office. As for fully remote lateral associates, 33% of offices considered fully remote lateral associate hires - 14.3% of offices having contingencies upon candidates' location being in a geographic area where the firm had a physical office and 18.6% of offices hiring fully remote hires regardless of candidates' location. (See Chart 4.)

• This year's survey results depict a lateral hiring market that is finding stability after several years of dramatic market swings since the onset of the pandemic. The overall median number of lateral hires (4) and average (9.9) were relatively consistent with 2023's figures, although they remain below average figures that were closer to 16 from 2018-2019 and 2021-22. (See Table 5 and Chart 3.)

For full results from prior year surveys, see the Entry-level and Lateral Hiring page.

Table 1. Summary of Lateral Hiring — 2024

Source: NALP Survey on 2024 Lateral Hiring

Table 2. Lateral Hiring in 2024 and Comparison with 2023

 Source: NALP Survey on 2024 Lateral Hiring
Note: This table includes offices/firms that reported at least one lateral hire in 2023 or 2024 and that also reported complete information for both years. Collectively, these 434 employers reported 4,295 lateral hires in 2024. The total columns include lateral hiring of partners, associates, and all other lateral lawyers combined. Cities shown had at least five offices/firms collectively reporting at least 20 lateral hires in 2024. Following the overall total shown in the first line, the table separates out surveys which reported information firm-wide, or for multiple offices, from those which reported office-specific information. Firm-wide information by region includes firms whose offices are predominately or wholly in that region. Office-specific information includes some instances of firms with most lawyers located in that city or whose additional offices are located primarily in adjacent areas, and of multi-office firms consolidating two geographically adjacent offices into a single survey.

Table 3. Hiring of Post-Clerkship Associates in 2024

Source: NALP Survey on 2024 Lateral Hiring
Note: Post-clerkship associates are defined as associates who joined the firm with no prior experience working as a licensed lawyers (outside of the clerkship). These associates are not included in any other counts of lateral associates reported elsewhere in this article. Collectively, these 434 offices/firms hired 342 post-clerkship associates in calendar year 2024. Following the overall total shown in the first line, the table separates out surveys which reported information firm-wide, or for multiple offices, from those which reported office-specific information.

Table 4. Prevalence of Lateral Hiring Outside of Firm's Geographic Locations and Relocation Requirements in 2024

* The number of offices represents the total number of offices hiring this category of lawyers and also responding to the question regarding relocation requirements.

Source: NALP Survey on 2024 Lateral Hiring
Note: Following the overall totals shown in the first line, the table separates out surveys which reported information firm-wide, or for multiple offices, from those which reported office-specific information. A small number of firms that reported office-specific information in Table 2 were only able to report firmwide data for these items. Firm-wide information by region includes firms whose offices are predominately or wholly located in that region. Office-specific information includes some instances of firms with most lawyers located in that city or whose additional offices are located primarily in adjacent areas, and of multi-office nation-wide firms consolidating two geographically adjacent offices into a single survey. A dash indicates that fewer than five offices or five unique firms hired this category of lawyers and responded to the question regarding relocation requirements. Some firm size categories, regions, and cities are omitted from the table because there were not at least five offices or five unique firms reporting data across any of the hiring questions. This information is specific to hiring conducted in calendar year 2024, while the data presented in Chart 4, presents general office policies surrounding the hiring of lateral lawyers.

Table 5. Summary of NALP Findings on Lateral Hiring, 1999-2024

Sources: NALP Survey on Lateral Hiring, 2021-24; NALP Survey of Legal Employers on Recruiting/Snapshot of the Recruiting Season Survey, 1999-2020

Chart 1. Percent Change in Lateral Hiring from 2023 to 2024 by Firm Size. (in # of lawyers)

Note: Data by firm size is inclusive of both firm-wide/multi-office and office-specific reporting. Total lateral hiring includes partner, associate, and other lateral lawyer hires.
Source: NALP Survey on 2024 Lateral Hiring

Chart 2. Percent Change in Aggregate Lateral Hiring from 2023 for Cities/States with 40 or More Lateral Hires in 2024

Source: NALP Survey on 2024 Lateral Hiring

Chart 3. Percent Change in Aggregate Lateral Hiring from Previous Year, 1999 - 2024

Sources: NALP Survey on 2021-24 Lateral Hiring; NALP Survey of Legal Employers on Recruiting/Snapshot of the Recruiting Season Survey, 1999-2020

Chart 4. General Office Policies Regarding Lateral Remote Hires (regardless of whether the office hired any remote lateral lawyers in calendar year 2024)

Source: NALP Survey on 2024 Lateral Hiring
Note: Percentages are based on responses from 419 offices to a question regarding their general office policies surrounding the hiring of fully remote lateral lawyers. This is different that the data presented in Table 3, which is specific to hiring that occurred in calendar year 2024.