American Lawyer: Partner Hires Across Macrae’s Markets Up 9% in 2024

Macrae's robust data and research team works overtime to track every partner hire by the leading law firms across our markets of London, New York, Washington, D.C., and the San Francisco Bay Area. Analyzing hiring activity for the first half of a given year often leads to important insight into law firm strategy and what to expect in the months ahead - and 2024 has proven no exception. So, how have the numbers shaken out so far in 2024?

As The American Lawyer reported, “Lateral partner hires among Am Law 50 and Magic Circle firms in four major markets are up 9% through the first half of the year, recruiting firm Macrae found. Moves in New York and London, in particular, surged. Additionally, the number of partner moves in investment management, funds and white-collar defense practices in the four markets has more than doubled from the same time as last year.”

Here, some key excerpts from the article, which included commentary from Managing Director Stephanie Ruiter in New York:

Lateral moves in New York were up about 36%, from 101 to 137. London moves increased by 6%, from 94 to 100 this year. Meanwhile, moves in Washington, D.C., were down about 6%, from 79 to 74, and moves in the Bay Area decreased by 27%, from 37 to 27.

Ruiter noted that the lateral moves are usually a result of a six to nine-month process, and firms began “picking their heads up in Q3 and Q4 of 2023.” Ruiter said part of the reason the second half of 2022 and all of 2023 were slower was that “firms were trying to digest the hiring they’d done in 2021 and the first half of 2022. So, part of the uptick is just a natural recovery, as firms are starting to feel like they’ve evened out.”

The number of partners making lateral moves in investment management/funds work jumped from 14 to 38 (171%) across those markets; white-collar moves increased from six to 13 (117%) and finance partner laterals increased 38%, from 47 to 65. Private equity moves, on the other hand, fell off, from 25 to 18 (28%). And despite their practice area remaining extremely busy, litigation laterals decreased from 39 to 31 (21% through the first half of the year).

Ruiter noted that lateral data doesn’t always perfectly correlate with demand. Sometimes it makes sense to move when a practice is busy. Other times lawyers will move when they’re less busy and have more time to ponder their situation. She said litigation, for example, can be a tough practice to recruit in, and despite the decrease in laterals, “I don’t expect that litigation demand to go down anytime soon.”

“I do think it’s a really good reflection of firms’ strategy. Are firms bullish or bearish on the market? And I think it’s a good way to distill what firms’ priorities are,” she said.

We encourage you to read the article in full here: Am Law 50 Law Firms See Uptick in Partner Hiring, With Focus on Funds and White-Collar Practices