How Am Law 200 Firms Are Reshaping Their Rosters
The lateral partner market didn’t just heat up in 2025 but it ran hot. New data from Law.com Compass shows that Am Law 200 firms hired 4,152 lateral partners in the 12 months ending September 30, 2025, up from 3,473 the prior year.
That’s a nearly 20% jump — a sharp contrast to the modest 3.7% increase recorded the year before in the lateral hiring report.
The numbers tell a story of a legal industry that has found its footing again, and firms that are spending aggressively to prove it.
New York and D.C. Lead the Charge
Where are the moves happening? New York City dominated lateral activity, accounting for nearly one in five partner hires nationally. Washington, D.C. came in second with 15.4% of all hiring, followed by Chicago (6.6%), Los Angeles (6.5%), and San Francisco (4.2%).
Rounding out the top ten were Boston, Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, and Denver, a group that underscores just how concentrated Big Law growth remains in established legal markets. In total, the top 20 U.S. cities accounted for more than 80% of all lateral partner hiring.
Geographically, 81% of the lateral partner moves were domestic, with the remaining 19% representing international hires — a reflection of the increasingly global footprint of the Am Law 200.
The Kirkland Effect — and the Race to Keep Up
It would be hard to tell this story without mentioning Kirkland & Ellis, which topped the Am Law 100 in gross revenue and hired 148 lateral partners in the period — the most of any firm tracked. The firm’s rationale was straightforward: meet client demand and deepen talent depth.
“It’s a very competitive market and only becoming more competitive,” said Andrew Calder, a Kirkland partner and executive committee member. “There’s a race to accumulate more talent on each platform.”
That race mentality is doing more than filling seats at one firm because it’s triggering a domino effect across the market.
Katherine Loanzon, a managing director at Kinney Recruiting in New York, summed it up neatly: once hiring activity picks up, other partners start asking whether they are being properly valued where they are. The inertia is real, and it compounds.
Why Firms Are Hiring — And Why Partners Are Moving
The business case for lateral partner hiring is well established. Dan Binstock of Washington, D.C. recruiting firm Garrison & Sisson puts it plainly: firms have four ways to grow revenue — raise billing rates, increase billable hours, leverage existing client relationships, or bring in new clients through lateral hires.
Of those, lateral hiring is the most direct lever for capturing new revenue, even if it carries its own risks.
Several forces are converging to keep the law partner market active:
Billing rate pressure. Larry Watanabe of California’s Watanabe Schwartz points to a growing gap between Am Law 20 economics and the rest of the Am Law 200. Some partners need rate relief; others are chasing higher rates at larger firms whose clients will bear the cost. Both dynamics are driving movement in opposite directions.
Firm mergers. When firms combine, not every partner sees the benefit of the new arrangement. Some exit before the ink dries; others leave shortly after. Either way, mergers continue to churn the market.
Government departures. The D.C. market in particular has benefited from attorneys leaving federal roles — a trend that accelerated throughout 2025. Firms coming off strong financial performances have the means and the appetite to invest, Binstock notes, and ex-government attorneys with regulatory expertise are in high demand.
Speed of the process. Watanabe also notes that the logistics of lateral hiring have changed fundamentally since COVID. What once took nine to twelve months — flying around to meet partners, weeks of deliberation — can now move much faster via Zoom. Firms are making decisions quickly, and that reduces friction for partners considering a move.
Who Is Hiring — and Who Is Moving
Nearly half of all lateral hiring (46.3%) was concentrated at Am Law 50 firms, confirming that the biggest players are also the most aggressive acquirers of talent. Second 50 firms accounted for 26%, while the 101–150 and 151–200 bands contributed 16.7% and 11% respectively.
On gender, 31.3% of lateral partners who moved during the period were women — a slight dip from the 33% recorded in the prior year. It’s a number the industry will be watching, particularly as firms have increasingly publicized commitments to gender equity in partnership.
The 2026 Outlook
If the trajectory holds, 2026 could be another strong year for lateral hiring.
Separate analysis from legal data firm Firm Prospects found that partner and counsel hiring hit five-year highs in 2025 — up 10% and 12% respectively — with the expectation that this momentum continues into the new year.
Associate hiring, meanwhile, may plateau or dip as firms increasingly lean on AI to handle work that once fell to junior attorneys.
The legal talent market in 2025 wasn’t just active because it was also strategic. Firms are doing more than just filling vacancies as they make some calculated guesses of things like practices, geographies, and client relationships.
And as long as the economics of Big Law reward the lateral hire over organic growth, expect the music to keep playing.
