Lateral partner hiring is down—way down—in Texas so far this year compared with 2021 and 2022, when firms frenetically hired to meet soaring demand.

According to market-specific hiring data from Decipher Investigative Intelligence, lateral partner hiring declined by 58% in Austin during the first nine months of 2023, compared with the same period in 2022, and by 40% in Dallas and 56% in Houston. Compared with the six-year average, lateral partner hiring dropped by 35% in Dallas for the nine-month period when compared with the same period in 2022, and by 25% in Dallas and 35% in Houston.