Lateral hiring among large firms heats up

The lateral hiring market is booming, with large law firms eagerly scooping up talent in the hope that it is followed by a solid book of business. The AM Law Daily has produced a survey to track the hires that have taken place already this year, capturing an especially busy time in the lateral market as lawyers time their moves to ensure that they know what kind of bonuses the prior year might yield. The exercise awarded firms a point for each lateral partner hired and a half-point for each counsel, of counsel, senior adviser, or specialist. Similarly, firms lost points for losing partners, counsel, of counsel, senior advisers, and specialists. The resulting ranking shows the firms that enjoyed the greatest net gains in lateral hiring during the first two months of 2012, alongside the firms that suffered the greatest net losses during that same period. Biggest gains DLA Piper +14. Littler Mendelson] +14. Bracewell & Giuliani +13. Perkins Coie +11. Bradley Arant Boult Cummings +11. Hughes Hubbard & Reed +10.5. Biggest losses Vinson & Elkins -14. Greenberg Traurig -11. Dewey & LeBoeuf -9. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe -8. Bryan Cave and Day Pitney tied at -5.5.

Lateral hiring among large firms heats up amlawdaily.typepad.com Thu, Mar 8, 2012