Get Ready For A Biglaw Exodus

// Twenty five percent of Biglaw associates are getting ready to leave their firms within the next year. This revelation is from a new report by Major, Lindsey & Africa. Their survey of ~300 Biglaw associates showed that 1 in 4 are planning their exit and three out of five associates said their firms aren’t trying to actively retain them.

As reported by Law.com, Biglaw should expect an uptick in lateral moves:

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Although a tough hiring market in some practices has stalled lateral movement, temporarily aiding retention, MLA associate recruiter and report co-author Kate Reder Sheikh said Big Law firms shouldn’t be lulled into a false sense of security.
“Firms have been, on a numerical basis, able to retain even more associates than they bargained for because the market has been down. But since Q2, things have been better in the markets where I recruit,” said Reder Sheikh, referencing the San Francisco Bay Area and Colorado. “These issues are more alive than they were in the first six months of the year.”

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Reder Sheikh also pointed to the practice areas that are hot right now, “I’m starting to see M&A roles come back, general corporate, not a ton of emerging companies and venture capital but they are really in a winter right now,” she said. “But certainly litigation is gangbusters, white collar, labor and employment—a lot of practices are doing very well.”

But if this is alarming to Biglaw leadership, well, they only have to make an effort. A whopping 90 percent of respondents said they’d be be more likely to stay if they felt like their firms are making a conscious effort to keep them. So, ball’s in Biglaw’s court.

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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].

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Biglaw, Lateral Moves, Major Lindsey & Africa