This is the latest update on lateral partner and counsel moves in the Washington, D.C. area. The data included in these reports are primarily derived from Firm Prospects LLC. For more details and analysis, including a list of laterals for the month, please contact Steve Nelson.
After a very strong January, lateral hiring in the D.C. area dropped in February, as 58 partner and counsel moves were reported, down from 92 in January. The 58 moves were also significantly lower than the 96 reported in February 2025. However, because of the large number of laterals in January, the total number of moves for the first two months are essentially the same as last year.
There were two group moves in February. One was a two-partner Hatch-Waxman Intellectual Property group that moved from Cooley to Norton Rose. The other was a three-partner Congressional Investigations and State Attorneys General group that joined Simpson Thacher & Bartlett from Akin, Gump.
Other firms reporting multiple lateral moves included:
- Barnes & Thornburg
- DLA Piper
- K&L Gates
- McDermott Will & Schulte
- Mintz, Levin
- Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
- Squire Patton Boggs
- Womble Bond Dickinson
For the first time in many months, hiring from the government fell to single digits, as only nine laterals joined from the federal government. Three attorneys moved from in house positions.
Seventeen of the movers (29.3 percent) women. Of those, nine (52.9 percent) joined their new firms as partners. That compared to 31 of the 41 men (75.6 percent) who were selected partners at their new firms.
Litigation once again was the most active practice area represented, with 11 moves. Other active practice areas included:
- White Collar/Investigations (6)
- Intellectual Property (6)
- Antitrust (4)
- Energy (4)
- Corporate (3)
The McCormick Group organizes and chairs a Lateral Partner Recruiting Roundtable, which includes a discussion of key topics of interest in the area of partner recruiting. The Zoom meetings are limited to law firm recruiting officials. Among the topics discussed have included:
- How firms determine whether portable business estimates are accurate
- Efforts to have law firms adopt a uniform Lateral Partner Questionnaire
- The use of artificial intelligence tools in the recruiting process
- Controversial provisions in Law Firm Recruiting Agreements
- Best practices in Onboarding and Integration
If you are a law firm representative, and would like more information, please contact Steve Nelson at snelson@tmg-dc.com.
