PRESS RELEASES

D.C. Lateral Market Report: Lateral Moves Remain Steady, But No Groups Moved in April

(June 1, 2021) 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, please contact TMG’s Steve Nelson (snelson@tmg-dc.com) or Dave Ris (dris@tmg-dc.com).

Lateral movement dipped slightly in April, as 64 partner and counsel moves were reported., down from 71 in March. That number was higher than that of April 2020, when 52 moves were reported.

Interestingly, there was no practice groups that moved in April. This is in stark contrast to March when six groups moved from one firm to another. That said, many firms reported multiple hires, including Crowell & Moring; Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; Hogan Lovells; Manatt Phelps & Phillips; Morgan Lewis; Morrison & Foerster; Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough; O’Melveny & Myers; Redgrave; and Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton.

For the first time in six months, the percentage of women making the list exceeded 30 percent, with 21 out of the 64 movers (32.8) being female. However, much like last month, women predominantly entered their new firms at the counsel level, with only eight out of the 21 coming in as partner. That contrasts to 36 of 43 men who joined their new firms as partners.

Once again, moves from the government were a big factor in the lateral market in DC, with 16 moves from the federal government. Leading the way again were five moves from the Department of Justice. Other agencies with multiple moves were the Food and Drug Administration, with three moves, and the Federal Trade Commission, with two moves. Five lawyers moved from in-house positions in April.

In terms of practice area, Litigation headed the way, with 12 moves. Other active areas included White Collar/Investigations (6 moves), Antitrust (6), Corporate (5), FDA (5), Banking/Finance (4), and Energy (4).