The Boston legal market in numbers
In early May, Blank Rome and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett announced that they would be opening offices in Boston. This follows a number of AM Law firms that have set up shop in the city in recent years, looking to "break into the thriving technology and life sciences hub."
Among the largest legal hubs in the United States, Boston has had the highest growth in Partner headcount (between May 2020 - May 2024). So let's take a deeper dive into the state of the Boston legal market and find out where this growth has been occurring.
Which law firms have the largest presence in Boston?
Goodwin Procter, Ropes & Gray and Mintz Levin have the largest number of Partners, with Boston acting as the headquarters for each firm.
Which law firms have been opening offices in Boston?
13 Global 200 firms have opened offices in Boston since 2020, with 3 taking place in 2024.
Lateral Partner hires have increased significantly in Boston
Overall, lateral Partner hires have increased by 76% since 2020. Much of this growth occurred in 2021 (+52%) and 2023 (+19%), with Partner moves decreasing slightly in 2022 (-3%).
Most Partners moving into Boston from another location come from New York City and Washington, DC.
Partner promotions have increased at a higher rate than lateral hires
Partner promotions have grown year on year and at a higher rate (+104%) than lateral hires (+76%).
Which practices have been growing in Boston?
"Boston is an incubator for technology and biotech companies, which drives much of the work. Because so many of these companies need funding, Boston is also popular for venture capital companies and private equity companies."
Georgetown Law's summary of why Boston has been attracting Big Law firms echoes our data on practice growth in the city. Corporate (+24%) is the practice group with the largest growth since May 2020, followed by Intellectual Property (+22%) and Insurance (+22%). Various Corporate and Litigation practice areas have registered significant increases in Partner headcount (Employment Litigation +35%, Insurance Litigation +32%, M&A +30% and Private Equity Transactions +27%).
Most of the fastest growing firms in Boston are AM Law 100
Kirkland & Ellis have added more Partners to their Boston office than any other firm since 2020, with Goodwin Procter not far behind.
Which practices have the top growing firms focused on?
Kirkland & Ellis has primarily grown their Corporate practice in Boston, with Partner headcount increasing in Investment Funds and M&A.
Goodwin Procter has increased their Partner numbers in Private Equity Transactions, M&A and Emerging Companies & Venture Capital.
Choate has added the most Partners to the following practices; Private Client, Intellectual Property, Crime, Fraud & Investigations and M&A.
The fastest growing firms had different strategies
The "Lateral Lovers"
Firms that grew mostly through lateral recruitment
The "Promoters"
Firms that grew their Partnership mostly through promoting their Associates
The "Happy Hybrids"
Firms that grew mostly through a balance of recruitment and promotions
The Promoters
+70% of new Boston Partners at Goodwin Procter and Foley & Lardner came via promotions
The Happy Hybrids
Kirkland & Ellis and others deployed both tactics to increase their Boston Partner headcount
The Lateral Lovers
Barnes & Thornburg, Greenberg Traurig and Withers primarily hired Partners from Boston based rivals in order to grow
Note on methodology
Source: Pirical Legal Professionals, using publicly available data
Timeframe: 2020 - 2024
Partners with multiple locations have been equally distributed across each.
Written using data from Pirical Legal Professionals (PLP)
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