Fierce competition for legal talent: how AM Law firms grew in 2024
Overall, 2024 was a strong year for the AM Law legal market, with demand for legal services experiencing a "historic growth surge" and most firms achieving "strong profits per equity Partner". It was also a year that highlighted an increasingly competitive legal talent market, as lateral moves and mergers abounded.
Using publicly-available data from Pirical Legal Professionals (PLP), we've taken a look at the lateral Partner hires and headcount growth from 2024, to see which law firms and practices had the most interesting growth stories of the year.
Lateral Partner hires in 2024
The number of lateral Partner hires increased across all segments of the AM Law 200
Both halves of the top 100 hired 8% more lateral Partners in 2024 than 2023, whereas second hundred firms increased lateral hires by 3%.
Lots of AM Law 100 firms were active in the lateral market
Kirkland & Ellis (134) and Lewis Brisbois (106) made the most Partner hires across 2024.
But not every firm grew headcount through lateral hires, some had a higher number of Partner departures
Kirkland & Ellis had a similar ratio of Partner hires (134) to Partner exits (132). Paul Hastings (+35), Polsinelli (+32), Greenberg Traurig (+30) and Gordon & Rees (+12) all hired more Partners than they lost.
Firms such as Paul Hastings, Baker McKenzie and Polsinelli grew aggressively by making large group lateral hires
Polsinelli's poaching of 47 lawyers (30 Partners) from Holland & Knight was the largest group move of the year.
"Firms tend to covet group lateral hires because there’s a higher likelihood of success, a group move often means stickier client relationships and more confidence that the assembled team will deliver. Secondly, large group moves make more noise in the press and show that the firm is growing, which is good for the brand!"
Gary Miles | Miles Partner Placement
Lateral Partner demand in certain practices shifted across different segments of the AM Law 200
"Ultimately, every law firm segment walked away from 2024 with something to brag about in terms of demand growth, although some had weightier hauls than others." Thomson Reuters, 2025 Report on the State of the US Legal Market
AM Law 1-50
The top 50 firms primarily increased lateral Partner hiring across Banking & Finance (+43%) and Corporate - Investment Funds (+36%) practices, where there were corresponding decreases in hiring activity among lower ranked firms. Real Estate (-34%) and Litigation (-7%) saw the highest drops in lateral moves to AM Law 1-50 firms.
AM Law 51-100
The second half of the top 100 saw major increases in Partner hires across Tax (+114%) and Litigation - Crime, Fraud & Investigations (+61%), while the sharpest declines were in Corporate - Investment Funds (-41%) and Banking & Finance (-27%).
AM Law 101-200
Second hundred firms increased lateral Partner hiring across Tax (+48%) and Real Estate (+37%), where the -34% decrease among AM Law 1-50 firms may have created an opportunity.
Partner headcount growth in 2024
Paul, Weiss had the highest growth in Partner numbers
The firm's significant rise in Partner headcount (+42%) is partly down to the adoption of a non-equity Partnership tier in 2024. The firm was also very active in the lateral market.
UK firms like Allen & Overy and Herbert Smith Freehills have used mergers with AM Law firms to grow in the US
In 2024, A&O Shearman completed its combination and Herbert Smith Freehills announced plans to merge with Kramer Levin. More trans-atlantic combinations are likely to continue, as British firms seek to cement their position in the US market and keep up with other UK rivals.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia had the highest increase in AM Law 100 Partners
Riyadh (+132%) had the sharpest growth in Partner numbers while Hong Kong had the largest decline (-18%). Back in 2023, Nashville was the city with the highest increase in AM Law 100 Partner headcount (+175%), but growth slowed to just +3% in 2024.
AM Law 100 practices with the highest headcount growth
The increased demand for hiring Finance and Corporate Partners is reflected across many of the highest growth practices from 2024. In terms of location, London and New York City feature heavily in the top 30.
Written using publicly-available data from Pirical Legal Professionals (PLP)
Unlock unparalleled coverage of the legal market
Global attorney database built with the most comprehensive sources of data on the market. Designed for law firm lateral hiring teams, legal headhunters and strategy planners, our data tracks over 620,000 profiles across 130+ countries. PLP enables firms to source talent quicker, leverage their own network for referral opportunities, map out competitors’ org structures, research new markets and much more.
Subscribe to the latest data insights & blog updates
Fresh, original content for Law Firms and Legal Recruiters interested in data, diversity & inclusion, legal market insights, recruitment, and legal practice management.
