A study conducted by The McCormick Group has revealed that there were 84 lateral moves in the Labor & Employment area during the first half of 2026. Overall, there were 17 partner moves, with another 17 moves at the counsel level and 50 moves by associates. These totals include 19 attorneys who primarily focus on Immigration Law.
Dallas was the most active market, with 41 moves. (We included Fort Worth, Richardson, and Addison in these statistics). There were 26 lateral moves in Houston, and 17 in Austin.
There were five group moves where more than one attorney moved simultaneously from one firm to another. Those included:
- One partner and one associate who moved from Thomson Coburn to Dorsey & Whitney in Dallas.
- Three lawyers who left Hallett & Perrin to join Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr in Dallas.
- Two partners and two associates who moved from DLA Piper to Vartabedian Katz Hester & Haynes in Dallas.
- Two partners who joined Maynard Nexsen from Steptoe & Johnson PLLC in Dallas.
- Two partners and an associate who joined Mayer Brown in Houston from McGuireWoods.
Other firms that added multiple lateral attorneys included:
- Berry, Appleman & Leiden
- Fisher Phillips
- Gordon & Rees
- Jackson Lewis
- Littler Mendelson
- Morgan Lewis & Bockius
- Ogletree Deakins
- Seyfarth Shaw
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, please contact Mandissa Marshall.
