Dewey & LeBoeuf may be gone, but in the lateral market, its legacy lives on. In the 12-month period ending September 30, 280 Dewey partners flooded the market, helping drive the total number of Am Law 200 lateral partner moves to its highest point in three years. The American Lawyer‘s latest lateral survey found that 2,691 partners left or joined Am Law 200 firms during the 12-month period. That was a 9.7 percent increase from the previous year, when 2,454 partners switched firms, and a 33.6 percent increase from 2010. (The numbers for 2011 were boosted in part by another big-firm failure, Howrey, which sent 208 partners into the lateral market.) All told, 2012 marks the highest number of moves since the 12-month period ending September 2009, when a record 2,775 partners changed jobs, largely because of the failure of four big firms: Thacher Proffitt & Wood, Heller Ehrman, Thelen, and WolfBlock.

Previous Lateral Report coverage :: 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008

THE FEATURES

ESCAPE ROUTES By Victor Li
Lateral activity at Am Law 200 firms reached a three-year high in 2012—blame it on Dewey.
 
BUILDING A BETTER LATERAL By Amy Kolz
Firms have made plenty of changes to their lateral hiring process in recent years—but the results remain lackluster.
PLAYING NOT TO LOSE By William Henderson and Christopher Zorn
For 12 years we’ve tracked partner moves. A look at the data shows how hard it is to win the lateral hiring game.
A NOTHING-IN-MODERATION GUY By Susan Beck
Skadden snagged ex-prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, but only after the firm agreed to a few conditions.
LATERAL ALL-STARS By Victor Li and Drew Combs
The Am Law 200′s most high-profile partner moves in 2012.
 

THE CHARTS

Lateral Partner Hires: The Top-Gaining Firms
Partner Defections: Firms With the Biggest Losses
The Dewey Tracker: Where the Defunct Firm’s Partners Landed
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