The Gloves Are Off in the Battle for Top Partner Talent
By Christine Simmons
The Shift: The Gloves Are Off in the Battle for Top Partner Talent
Am Law 50 law firms have come out of the gate in 2025 with aggressive lateral recruits, after what is expected to be a profitable 2024 in Big Law.
The gloves are off in the battle for top talent in Big Law. Law firms such as Paul Weiss, Kirkland & Ellis, Sidley Austin, Cravath, Ropes & Gray, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, among others, have all swiped leading talent from each other or other rivals.
While these firms have ramped up lateral hiring in recent years, it’s an unusual start in 2025, with more elite firms turning to lateral raiding in the new year, instead of only relying on internal promotions for growth. It highlights the amped-up talent battle heading into 2025 and law firms’ aggressive bid to expand market share by relying on lateral recruits.
Some law firms have also kicked up the battle for rising talent, armed with newly launched or expanded nonequity tiers. All is fair in the battle for top talent and adding market share.
The Conversation
Kirkland raided Skadden’s mass torts team amid its plans to launch in Philadelphia, taking a team of five partners, led by mass tort partner Allison Brown. Paul Weiss, fresh off taking a 20-lawyer team from Weil Gotshal & Manges, hired Sullivan & Cromwell exec comp leader Matthew Friestedt. And Cravath Swaine & More lured Paul Weiss’ antitrust co-chair Andrew Finch. Ropes & Gray also said it added a Paul Weiss partner this week, hiring M&A lawyer David Harris.
That’s all this week. Last week, Sidley confirmed its hiring of David Grubman, who was the M&A chair for the Americas at Jones Day, as well as Adam Cromie from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.
Law firms are not only after rainmaking partners too. As they expand their nonequity tier, they are also recruiting rising stars and the next generation of leaders, sometimes in other firms’ counsel ranks.
In the last week, Paul Weiss recruited Latham & Watkins counsel Michael Montgomery as a corporate and M&A partner in Los Angeles. And Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, expanding its IP and privacy practice, hired Caroline Geiger, who was counsel at Debevoise & Plimpton and co-head of its IP and tech transactions group, and James Talbot, who was counsel at Skadden.
“You are seeing the top laterals moving to that segment of winners circle firms who have a significant advantage in navigating this particular market,” said Sabina Lippman, managing partner of recruiting firm CenterPeak, adding laterals are “coalescing” into the top firms in various practices, whether it’s private equity, funds, antitrust or M&A.
“There used to be more unpredictable moves” where more firms were sharing the top echelon spoils of the lateral market, she said. Now, lawyers are making the moves to the firms that have “proven success in the most desirable and synergistic practices,” she said, adding, “I expect that winners circle to continue to contract.”
The Am Law 50 hiring comes after a busy 2024.
While fourth-quarter lateral partner movement in the top 100 firms was slow last year, total 2024 lateral movement was up 9 percent over 2023 among these firms, according to an analysis by legal recruiting firm Aspire. The Aspire analysis is based on data collected from firms' new partner website additions and Firm Prospects data.
The lateral movement comes as more dealmakers are optimistic, while still a bit uncertain, about the deal environment in 2025 under the new Trump administration;
With President Trump starting his second term with a flurry of executive orders, the uncertainty and confusion over the new rules is benefiting some firms, as corporate clients turn to lawyers on how to navigate the administration. Already, some law firms have hired officials from Trump’s first term for better visibility and client advice.
The Significance
About 54% of firm survey respondents believe lateral hiring will be the main engine of growth this year, according to a recent survey by Leopard Solutions.
With the legal industry seeing at least a 12% revenue gain in 2024 and some firms seeing double-digit profit hikes, according to bank data, the trend of elite firms turning to the lateral market will continue or even increase in 2025, recruiters and consultants predicted.
“If anything, it will accelerate. There are no safe havens,” said Jon Lindsey, founding partner of recruiting firm Major, Lindsey & Africa, adding that the war for talent “can accelerate, and firms that have the wherewithal to go after the best of the best are not going to stop.”
Owen Burman, senior consultant for Wells Fargo’s Legal Specialty Group, said some firms within the Am Law 50 (and a few beyond the top 50) are growing demand at twice the rate of the rest of the market.
The market leaders in areas such as private credit, public company M&A, and areas of finance will have “more money to retain and attract needle-moving people and teams, and they’ll do more of both,” noted law firm consultant Kent Zimmermann last year.
The Forecast
When Donald Trump was sworn in to be president again, it marked the beginning of big changes for the U.S. and the rest of the world. But big changes are coming for Big Law as well. And some have little to do with who is occupying the highest office in the United States, noted Law.com Internation editor Lisa Schuchman.
This is the year that more single-tier firms may move to adopt two-tier structures. This is the year when some law firms begin raiding their “peer firms” for the best talent. And this may be the year when some law firms reorganize or rethink their long-term strategy to better compete.
Read the full post at law.com
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved.
Additional Post
