A recent lateral hiring report from the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) shows an increase in lateral hiring in 2010, driven mostly by mobility in the associate ranks.
According to NALP’s 2010 “Survey of Legal Employers on Fall Recruiting and Associate Deferrals,” 2,273 lawyers moved to new firms last year, a 38.4 percent increase from 2009. Of those moves, two-thirds were associates. Lateral associate hiring rose 61 percent from 2009 to 2010; partner hiring increased 8.4 percent in that period, the survey shows. (The report is based on responses from 284 law firms, ranging in size from “100 or fewer” lawyers to “501+”, who reported at least one lateral attorney hire in 2009 and 2010.)
