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 but organized by the Legal Recruiting team at The McCormick Group. For more details and analysis, including a list of laterals for the month, please contact Steve Nelson.
Lateral hiring dipped a bit in May, with 56 partner and counsel moves reported, down from 72 in April. The number was also much less than the 99 moves reported in May 2025.
Overall, the amount of lateral hiring for the first five months of 2026 trails the amount during the same period in 2025. But virtually all of that decline can be traced to the entirely predictable drop in recruiting from the government. Only nine hires came from the government in May; so far this year, there have been 60 government hires compared to 135 during the first five months of 2025.
There were 3 group moves in May, down from 10 in April. Those were:
- Three Energy partners that moved from Dentons to Morrison & Foerster.
- Two Government Contracts partners that joined Spencer Fane from Fox Rothschild.
- Four International Trade and Government Investigations partners that moved from Winston & Strawn to Steptoe.
Other firms reporting multiple lateral moves included:
- Arnall Golden Gregory
- Cooley
- Nixon Peabody
- Paul Weiss
Twenty-one of the movers (37.5 percent) were women. Of those, 11 (52.4 percent) joined their new firms as partners. That compared to 22 of the 35 men (62.9 percent) who were selected partners at their new firms.
Litigation once again was the most active practice area represented, with nine moves. Other active practice areas included:
- Energy (7)
- White Collar/Investigations (6)
- Tax (5)
- International Trade/National Security (4)
- Government Contracts (3)
- Data Privacy (3)
- Investment Management (3)
In the latest episode of “Steve’s Rules,” TMG’s Steve Nelson and David Ris follow up on last year’s podcast discussing the impact of President Trump’s executive orders focused on major law firms. Among the areas covered:
- How much turnover has there been at the settling firms, as well as those firms that challenged the government.
- Why some firms have seen significant departures, while others have not.
- The impact on associate retention.
- The impact on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The podcast, a feature of the Legal Recruiting and Legal Management practices of The McCormick Group, is available on virtually all platforms, including Apple and Spotify.
