NALP Bulletin+
April 2022

Read the March 30, 2022 press release on this topic (PDF)

Watch NALP Director of Research Danielle Taylor's short video presenting highlights from the survey

Following a 30% decline in 2020 due in large part to hiring pauses in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, lateral hiring rebounded at an unprecedented rate in 2021. Overall, lateral hiring was up 111% compared to 2020, the largest year-over-year increase in the 23 years in which NALP has been tracking these data. While increases were noted across all categories of lawyers, the lateral associate market was particularly hot, increasing 149% in 2021. As a whole, lateral hiring was up across all firm sizes, regions, and cities included in the analysis of NALP's Survey on 2021 Lateral Hiring, although a few markets experienced declines in partner lateral hiring.

Prior to 2021, the previous highest year-over-year gain was 48.5% in 2011, the second year of a substantial rebound as the legal economy recovered following the Great Recession. This recovery followed the largest decline observed in 2009, when lateral hiring was down 52%. From 2012-2019, percent changes in lateral hiring ranged from losses of approximately 11% to gains of about 14%.

Key Findings:

• Based on aggregate hiring information on nearly 7,700 lateral lawyers in 2021, the overall volume of hiring was up 110.9% compared with 2020 in these same offices/firms, with a median of 6 and an average of 16 lateral hires per office/firm. The extent of these increases varied by category of lawyers. In 2021, the associate lateral hiring market saw the largest year-over-year increase (148.5%), while the smallest increase was observed in the partner lateral hiring market (42.8%). The average number of lateral associates hired per office/firm in 2021 was approximately 11 and the median was 4 compared to an average of about 2 and a median of 1 for lateral partner hires. Lateral associate hiring accounted for 69.2% of lateral hiring in 2021 and lateral partner hiring accounted for 14.7%. Other lateral hiring, which includes staff attorneys and counsel, comprised 16.1% of lateral hiring. (See Table 1.)

• However, as Table 2 shows, changes in aggregate hiring and the level of hiring, measured by either the median or average number of hires, varied considerably by both firm size and geography. For example, for firms reporting their lateral hiring on a firm-wide basis (in the section of Table 2 labeled "Firm-wide Reports"), lateral hiring as measured by medians ranged from 11 to 112 depending on firm size and increases in aggregate volume ranged from approximately 54% to 147%. Firms of 250 or fewer lawyers and firms of 501-700 lawyers actually experienced small declines in partner lateral hiring in 2021, while firms of 251-500 lawyers saw an increase of 81%.

• Among offices reporting activity for a single office, offices averaged from 0.8 to 1.4 lateral partner hires depending on firm size, whereas associate lateral hiring averages ranged from 4.4 to 6.8 per office. While overall lateral hiring was up across the board, offices in firms of 251-500 lawyers experienced the largest increase in lateral hiring (137.9%), and offices in firms of 250 or fewer lawyers had the smallest increase (79.3%). By firm size, offices in firms of 250 or fewer lawyers were the only offices to report an overall decline in lateral partner hiring (-15.6%).

• On a regional basis, the level of lateral hiring per office was highest in the Northeast region — largely driven by the New York City market — with a median of 10 and an average of 18 lateral hires in 2021. In terms of aggregate volume change, volume was also up the most in the Northeast region (177.5%), with both Boston and New York City reporting large increases in lateral hiring.

• Among cities reporting at least 50 lateral hires in 2021, lateral hiring increases ranged from 63% in Atlanta to more than 191% in Houston. (See Chart 1.)

• Despite the overall 111% increase in lateral hiring in 2021, not every office or firm experienced such a large increase, while others saw an even more dramatic surge in lateral hiring. For example, about 59% of offices/firms reported increases of 100% or more in lateral hiring (at least doubling their lateral hiring as compared to 2020), while 41% experienced increases of less than 100%. Among cities with at least 10 offices reporting, New York City had the highest proportion of offices reporting increases of 100% or more in lateral hiring (74.3% of offices). In contrast, less than half (47.6%) of offices in the Los Angeles area reported this same level of increase in lateral hiring.

• By city, increases in associate lateral hiring ranged from about 78% in Portland, OR to 250% in Austin.

• While overall lateral hiring and associate lateral hiring were up across all firm sizes, regions, and cities/states included in NALP's analysis, this was not the case for partner lateral hiring. Austin, Charlotte, Dallas, the Denver area, the Miami area, Philadelphia, and Portland, OR all observed drops in lateral partner hiring. Regionally, lateral partner hiring was up the most in the Northeast (112.1%) and Mid-Atlantic regions (88.6%), while all other regions saw more moderate increases.

• This was the first year in which NALP asked offices about the hiring of any lateral lawyers who were located outside of the firm's geographic area and were allowed to work remotely without relocating. Overall, 15.3% of offices reported hiring lateral partners who did not need to relocate, 22.7% reported hiring lateral associates who did not need to relocate, and 23.4% reported hiring other lateral lawyers who did not need to relocate. (See Table 3.)

• This year's survey results document a strong recovery in the lateral hiring market, following 2020's sharp decline due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hiring. Survey results, of course, reflect the respondent pool for each year. Nonetheless, to the extent that the survey pool is relatively consistent with respect to firm size and location, it appears that the average number of lateral hires per office/firm is now almost back to the record levels set in 2018 and 2019, although the median number of hires in 2021 (6) remains below the medians of 7-8 observed during that time period. (See Chart 2 and Table 4.)

For full results from prior year surveys, see NALP Bulletin+ columns posted under Entry-level and Lateral Hiring.

Table 1. Summary of Lateral Hiring — 2021

Source: NALP Survey on 2021 Lateral Hiring. Based on data from 480 offices/firms that reported at least one lateral hire in 2020 or 2021.

Table 2. Lateral Hiring in 2021 and Comparison with 2020

Source: NALP Survey on 2021 Lateral Hiring

Note: This table includes offices/firms that reported at least one lateral hire in 2020 or 2021 and that also reported complete information for both years. Collectively these 480 employers reported 7,686 lateral hires in 2021. Cities shown had at least 5 offices/ firms collectively reporting at least 20 lateral hires in 2021. 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 attorneys located in that city or whose additional offices are located primarily in adjacent areas, and of multi-office nation-wide firms consolidating 2 geographically adjacent offices onto a single survey.

Table 3. Prevalence of Lateral Hiring Outside of Firm's Geographic Locations and Relocation Requirements

Source: NALP Survey on 2021 Lateral Hiring

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

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. 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 attorneys located in that city or whose additional offices are located primarily in adjacent areas, and of multi-office nation-wide firms consolidating 2 geographically adjacent offices onto a single survey. A dash indicates that fewer than 5 offices hired this category of lawyers and responded to the question regarding relocation requirements.

Table 4. Summary of NALP Findings on Lateral Hiring — A 23-Year Retrospective, 2001-2021

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

Chart 1: Percent Change in Aggregate Lateral Hiring from 2020 for Cities with 50 or More Lateral Hires in 2021

Chart 2: Percent Change in Aggregate Lateral Hiring from Previous Year, 2001 - 2021