Which AM Law 100 Firms Have The Best Lateral Partner Retention?
Lateral Partner retention is a vital metric for law firms. "Each year, law firms invest countless hours, money, and resources in their lateral hiring efforts", so the success rate of each lateral hire has significant implications to any firm.
Based on input from a number of firms, a key window for a lateral Partner hire is the first 3 years from joining. Within that timeframe, most firms will have a sense of whether the hire is going to be a success, or not!
Using publicly-available data tracked by
Pirical, we've analyzed how many of the lateral Partner hires made by AM Law 100 firms between 2020-2022 exited the firm within 3 years of joining.
Note on methodology
Each firm's retention rate is based on the cohort of lateral Partner hires made between Jan 2020 - Dec 2022, and how many of those hires subsequently left the firm within the first 3 years of joining.
Excludes firms that made fewer than 5 lateral Partner hires and moves as a result of mergers. Data is derived from tracked lateral Partner moves, numbers may be slightly incomplete due to limited public information. Exits include Partners that left but didn't lateral to another firm, eg. retired.
Ranked: Which AM Law 100 Firms Have the Highest Lateral Partner Retention Rates?
Lateral Partner hires and how many then left the firm within the first 3 years
Global, AM Law 100, Firms with >5 lateral Partner hires, hires made between Jan 2020 - Dec 2022
Partner Retention Rates Are Lowest in Texas, Where the Lateral Market is Particularly Competitive
The major European and US legal hubs of Paris (90%), London (82%), and New York City (82%) show the strongest lateral Partner retention rates.
In contrast, the legal markets of Los Angeles (75%), Dallas (74%), and Houston (74%) have the lowest retention. As a particularly competitive lateral market, Texas appears to be the trickiest state to hold onto lateral Partner hires within the first 3 years of joining.
Cybersecurity Lateral Partner Retention Falls Below the 79% Practice Average
Looking at the data by practice, Labor and Employment (84%) practices have the strongest lateral Partner retention within the first 3 years. Project Development (82%) and Litigation (81%) practices are the next highest.
The practice with the lowest retention is
Cybersecurity, Privacy & Data Protection is the practice with the lowest retention at 68%, well below the 79% average. Insurance (77%) and Capital Markets (77%) practices also show a slightly higher than average rate of early exits.
Firms With Lateral Partner Retention Rates Greater Than 90% Source a Lot of Talent From The AM Law 50
Among the firms with over 90% retention within the first 3 years, Kirkland & Ellis was the most common source of the hire, accounting for 5.2% of moves.
Latham & Watkins (2.6%) was the next most common source of the hire, followed by a number of AM Law top 50 firms and Magic Circle firm Linklaters.
Note on methodology
Source: Publicly-available data tracked by Pirical Legal Professionals (PLP).
Excludes: Firms with fewer than 5 lateral Partner hires and moves as a result of direct mergers.
Timeframe: Jan 2020 - Dec 2025.
Each firm's retention rate is based on the cohort of lateral Partner hires made between 2020 - 2022, and how many of those lateral hires subsequently left the firm within the first 3 years of joining.
Data is derived from tracked lateral Partner moves, numbers may be slightly incomplete due to limited public information. Exits include Partners that left but didn't lateral to another firm, eg. retired.
Analysis powered by Pirical Legal Professionals (PLP)
Pirical Legal Professionals is the largest attorney database built with the most comprehensive data on the market. Specifically designed for legal recruitment and legal market research.
Pirical seamlessly aggregates data from a wide range of public sources, tracking over 700,000 attorney profiles worldwide. Our data helps law firms source lateral talent quicker, identify candidates with key client relationships, map competitor firm strategies & team structures, and much more.
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