This is the latest update on lateral partner and counsel moves in the Washington, D.C. area. The data included in these reports is primarily derived from Firm Prospects LLC. For more details and analysis, including a list of laterals for the month, please click here.
The lateral market continued to be active in February, as 89 partner and counsel moves were reported, up from 78 in January. Moreover, the number of moves were significantly higher than in February 2022, when 66 moves were reported.
Keying the increase were nine group moves, the most that have occurred in one month since we initiated our lateral reports in 2019. Most notable were the 19 government contracts, construction and white-collar/investigations lawyers from Smith Pachter McWhorter that joined Haynes and Boone, establishing that firm’s Northern Virginia office.
Other group moves included:
- A two-partner White Collar/Investigations group that left Willkie Farr to join Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft.
- A two-lawyer SEC Regulation group that also left Willkie Farr to join Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton.
- A three-partner Tax group that joined Eversheds Sutherland from Crowell & Moring.
- A three-partner Litigation and Labor/Employent group that joined Ice Miller from Whiteford, Taylor & Preston.
- A two-lawyer Antitrust group that joined Sheppard, Mulllin, Richter & Hampton from Baker & Hostetler.
- An eight-lawyer Energy group (including 3 partners in D.C.) that joined Vinson & Elkins from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
- Two lawyers from the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate (JAG), U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC) that joined the FDA practice at Venable.
- Two lawyers who were counsel to the House of Representatives Select Committee to Investigate The January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol that joined Willkie Farr as partners.
Other firms reporting multiple moves in January were:
- DLA Piper
- Greenberg Traurig
- Husch Blackwell
- King & Spalding
- Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
Twenty nine of the 89 lawyers (32.6 percent) were women, with19 (65.6 percent) entering as partners. That compared to 63.3 percent of the 60 men who joined their new firms as partners.
Led by the aforementioned transaction involving Smith Pachter McWhorter and Haynes and Boone, Government Contracts was the leading represented, as 12 practitioners moved laterally. Other active practice areas included:
- Energy (10)
- Litigation (10)
- White Collar/Investigations (8)
- International Trade (8)
- Intellectual Property (6)
- Corporate (5)
- Tax (5)
