Law360: Jon Truster on What’s Driving Partner Moves as 2024 Kicks Off

Will Big Law see an uptick in the number of partners making lateral moves in 2024? We may indeed - particularly if the first two weeks of January are any indication of what’s to come. Journalist Aebra Coe called on Jon Truster, a partner in New York, for insight into the forces driving what she describes as the “remarkable flurry of movement” in an article for Law360.

Here’s an excerpt:

Some of the movement is likely being driven by uneven financial results in 2023, a year during which average profits across the industry were largely flat. Some firms, however, performed better than others, according to Jon Truster, a partner at legal recruiting firm Macrae.

"Anytime you have firms where they're not going through a period of rapid growth in revenue … it's tough for the decision makers to keep everyone happy," Truster said. "Some partners may think, 'We had a great 2023, why is my compensation being kept flat?' There can be frustrations in what the firm is able to do to pay its partners."

Additionally, exceptionally high pay among a portion of the top, elite law firms has been driving lateral movement for a while now, and this year is no exception, Truster said.

"The person making $14 million with a big book of business may be able to make $18 million somewhere else," he said. "Firms are grappling with how to keep them without completely changing the culture of the firm, because another $4 million would have to come from somewhere."

We encourage you to read the article in full here: Flurry Of Moves Kicks Off 2024: BigLaw's January Shake-Ups.