What’s Up With All The New York Mid-Market Lateral Moves?

Ed. note: This is the latest installment in a series of posts on lateral partner moves from Lateral Link’s team of expert contributors. Jonathan Birenbaum is a Senior Director at Lateral Link, where he specializes in the recruitment of partners, counsel, associates and groups for law firms and attorneys for in-house counsel roles with corporate law departments in the New York area, the U.S., Canada and internationally.

We have seen quite a few partners, counsel and associates in all practice areas move law firms in New York City ranging at the AmLaw 100 and Magic Circle in Q1 and Q2 of 2017:

2017 Lateral Lawyer Movement NYC

There are more than 7,000 litigators in New York City alone (including lawyers in a variety of litigation sub-specialties).  From our experience in recruiting over the past decade in this space, we have seen a consistent demand for litigators.

This is true for both boutique multi-practice firms and major Am Law firms that specialize in representing mid-market clients for partners and groups of practitioners in these practice areas (especially those with portable books of business and that are accretive additions to their acquiring firms).

While the majority of litigation does not proceed to trial due to mandated arbitration or mediation, or due to settlement, clients continue to rely on their outside counsel to at least get them to a position of leverage to get out of it.

Labor & Employment Remains Very Competitive Among Am Law 200 and National “Boutique” L&E Firms

Although the U.S. economy is generally strong, currently there is clearly a strong demand from corporations and businesses for employment lawyers, as evidenced by the plethora of national L&E “boutique” firms that are increasingly becoming global players in employment litigation and counseling, as well as in business immigration and human resources law.

These boutiques have put rate pressure on the AmLaw firms, including instituting “flat fee” billing in some cases in order to compete with them for clients.  The demand for lower rates from clients is a key factor motivating employment partners to consider moving to platforms that enable them to offer more rate flexibility.

Nevertheless, the Am Law 200 and mid-market firms continue to demonstrate interest in adding L&E partners and groups that can enable them to compete more robustly for clients.  These multi-practice national firms provide the potential for employment law partners to cross-market their clients’ needs to generate greater potential originations and billings for the L&E partner who needs to “thread the needle” with billing rates for their work to retain and add clients in today’s legal economic environment.

Of course, the key for associates in this practice area who aspire to make partner is to generate their own portable business by cultivating clients who will transition to a new firm with them.  L&E is a practice area where young lawyers can establish their own clientele by representing smaller businesses and insurance carriers that provide employment practices liability insurance to corporations and are thus defendants in lawsuits.

Bankruptcy & Restructuring Has Been Hot

We also have seen a number of mid-market firms show strong interest in adding insolvency partners or groups to their New York offices.  These firms also often have strong practices in Delaware, a hub for the filing of corporate insolvencies, and can service corporate clients with boots on the ground only in New York or with an office in Wilmington and/or Philadelphia.

Demand for bankruptcy lawyers is cyclical in nature.  There has been an uptick in bankruptcy filings in a number of key global industries like retail, energy, shipping and healthcare.  Based on the current global and national economic climate, there is no reason to believe that more companies won’t seek the protection of the courts from creditors as they attempt to restructure or liquidate their assets.

It is important to note that several global firms, including White & Case and Freshfields, added multiple insolvency and restructuring partners to their New York offices earlier this year, demonstrating that there is strong international demand in the practice area.

High Demand For Complex Commercial Litigators

There is always a demand from the mid-market law firms for business litigators, particularly those who represent major Fortune 500 clients in bet the company litigation.   We are continuously asked by AmLaw 200 and mid-market firms to identify commercial litigation partners and groups with track records that show an upward trajectory.   

What We Can Do To Help You Identify Lateral Litigation Opportunities

One of Lateral Link’s core missions is to recruit and place partners, groups and associates in a variety of litigation disciplines, including Labor & Employment, Professional Responsibility, Products Liability & Mass Tort, Commercial Litigation, Bankruptcy and White Collar law. 

We are currently working with partners with strong portable books of business (between $500k to $30mm) in a number of these practice areas with firms in the New York City area.   Our team is in the game helping talented partners who explore the market for real benefits achieved only by making a move and to provide them with guidance throughout the hiring process.

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Lateral Link is one of the top-rated international legal recruiting firms. With over 14 offices world-wide, Lateral Link specializes in placing attorneys at the most prestigious law firms and companies in the world. Managed by former practicing attorneys from top law schools, Lateral Link has a tradition of hiring lawyers to execute the lateral leaps of practicing attorneys. Click ::here:: to find out more about us.