Associate Attrition In Biglaw Was Quite High In 2022

Changing geographic locations was a big prompt for associates to leave their firms.

Ed. note: Welcome to our daily feature, Quote of the Day.

The very high levels of both associate hiring and attrition, particularly in the first half of 2022, show significantly elevated and ongoing associate mobility, but with increasing dispersion based on location and practice area…and troublingly persistent differences for associates of color, which should be a pressing concern for the profession.

— NALP Foundation President & CEO Fiona Trevelyan Hornblower, in comments given on the Foundation’s newest annual Update on Associate Attrition, which found that the overall associate attrition rate for 2022 was 20% (down from 2021’s 26%). Attrition was higher among associates of color, at 26%. Geographic relocation was cited as one of the top reasons associates elected to leave their firms for the first time since NALP has been tracking this information.


Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.