Which AM Law 200 Firms Have Had The Busiest Recruitment Teams?
It’s been a record-breaking year for lateral hiring across the AM Law 200. But which firms have been the most active in the lateral partner market in recent months?
Using publicly available data from
Pirical, we've ranked firms with the busiest in-house recruitment teams over the last 12 months.
AM Law Lateral Partner Hires Jumped by 13.2% in 2025, Mainly Driven by the Top 50 Firms
Over 3,000 AM Law partners switched firms in 2025. The 13.2% increase compared to 2024, marks a peak year for lateral partner moves.
The AM Law 1-50 firms were the primary engine behind this growth, with lateral partner hires skyrocketing by
24.5%. In contrast, firms in the AM Law 51-100 and 101-200 experienced more gradual increases of
7.5% and
5.9%, respectively.
Ranked: Which AM Law Firms Have Recorded the Highest Rate of Lateral Hiring In the Last 12 Months?
United States, AM Law 200, Partners, April 2025 - April 2026
Lewis Brisbois, Kirkland & Ellis, and Gordon & Rees Have Made the Most Lateral Partner Hires
Lewis Brisbois (126 hires) and Kirkland & Ellis (118) made over 100 lateral hires in the last 12 months. However, both firms recorded a net loss in headcount as departures outweighed new arrivals.
In contrast, firms like Barnes & Thornburg (70 hires) and Paul Hastings (47) made a significant number of hires while also achieving a net gain in partner headcount. This indicates they are actively hiring to grow, as opposed to replacing lost talent.
Barnes & Thornburg, Simpson Thacher, and Goldberg Segalla Have Been Growing Their Partner Benches The Most
Barnes & Thornburg (+32) and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (+23) led the market in lateral Partner headcount growth, both securing a massive overall net gain.
Even though these two firms made fewer total hires than the industry giants, they kept their departures low. This strong retention allowed them to expand their partner benches instead of just filling empty seats.
Seattle and Texas Have Been the Hottest Markets for Recent Lateral Partner Moves
While New York and D.C. have the highest number of moves, recruitment intensity shows where the competition is the most intense. This metric compares the number of hires to the total Partner population in each city.
By this measure, Seattle is the most active market in the country with a mobility rate of 12.3%. Texas is also a major hotspot; with Dallas (8.7%), Houston (8.2%), and Austin (8.0%) all in the top five, it is the most consistently "hot" region for Partner moves in the U.S.
Note on methodology
Source: Publicly-available data tracked by Pirical Legal Professionals (PLP)
Timeframe: April 2025 - April 2026
To identify the most aggressive recruiters, we looked at the gross hiring rate - calculated by taking the number of lateral partner hires made by a firm and dividing it by the firm's starting headcount.
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. It is used by over 100 law firms worldwide including 75% of the AM Law 20 and 80% of the UK top 50 law firms.
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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