This is the latest update on lateral partner and counsel moves in the Washington, D.C. area. The data included in these reports is primarily derived from Firm Prospects LLC. For more details and analysis, including a list of laterals for the month, please contact Steve Nelson.
Lateral hiring decreased a bit in June, as 75 partner and counsel moves were reported, down from 99 in May. At the same time, however, that 75 figure was higher than the 62 moves that were reported in June 2024. As a result, lateral hiring in 2025 remains well above that in 2024.
Government hiring remained strong with 28 moves from government positions reported in June, down a bit from 36 in May, but still higher than in March and April. So far in 2025, there have been 163 government moves, compared to 122 during the same period in 2021, the last year in which there was a change in Administration
As usual, the Department of Justice accounted for the most hires, with 10 attorneys moving into private practice. The only other government sources with more than one lateral were the Federal Trade Commission (3), the Department of Health and Human Services (2), and the White House (2).
June was a particularly active month for group movement, as six such transactions were reported, the same as in May. Those included:
- A three-lawyer Corporate group that left McGuireWoods to join Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
- A three-partner Intellectual Property Litigation group that joined Boies Schiller & Flexner from Spencer Fane.
- A three-partner Government Contracts and Construction group that left Fox Rothschild to open the D.C. office of Burr & Forman.
- Two Corporate partners that joined Paul Hastings from A&O Shearman.
- Two Intellectual Property partners that left Perkins Coie to join Morrison & Foerster
- Two Financial Services partners that joined Morrison & Foerster from Troutman Pepper Locke.
Other firms reporting multiple hires included:
- Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck
- Cooley
- Hogan Lovells
- Jenner & Block
- King & Spalding
- Littler Mendelson
- Squire Patton Boggs
- Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
For the first time in recent memory, more women joined as laterals than men. Overall, 40 women were hired by law firms in June, but only 14 (35 percent) entered as partners. That compared to 22 of the 35 men (62.9 percent) who joined their new firms as partners.
Litigation was the most active practice area, with 11 moves. Other active practice areas included:
- Intellectual Property (7)
- Banking/Finance (6))
- Corporate (6)
- White Collar/Investigations (5)
- Health Care (5)
- Government Relations (4)
- Antitrust (3)
- Government Contracts (3)
- Construction (3)
- Data Privacy (3)
- International Trade (3)
- Labor/Employment (3)
The Trump Administration’s executive orders aimed at various law firms has resulted in the most significant issue that the country’s leading law firms have faced in recent memory. In this episode of TMG’s Executive Consultant Steve Nelson podcast, Steve and his McCormick Group colleague Dave Ris provide some insights on the impact of these orders and the law firm responses, with a particular focus on lateral partner hiring.
Key topics covered in this episode:
- Immediate impact on law school, associate and partner recruiting.
- Which litigators might be affected.
- How corporate clients might react.
- Impact on the DC offices of the Wall Street and other elite firms that have settled.
- Possible chasm between “transactional” and “litigation” firms.
- How this may impact Government Relations practices in DC.
This is the 16th episode of Steve’s Rules. The podcast is available on virtually all platforms, including Apple and Spotify.
