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, please contact TMG’s Steve Nelson (snelson@tmg-dc.com) or Dave Ris (dris@tmg-dc.com).
Lateral movement dropped somewhat in June, as there were 64 moves reported, down from a high-water mark of 93 in May and equal to the number of moves reported in April. Hiring from government was also down in June, as 14 hires were reported, down from 33 in May. Not surprisingly, the Department of Justice led the way with five lawyers moving to private practice. Other active agencies were the Securities & Exchange Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency, with two hires apiece. Four moves from in-house positions were also reported in June.
As in May, five separate practice groups moved in June. One of them was the result of the merger of the Chicago-based intellectual property boutique Brinks Gilson & Lione with Crowell & Moring, as two of the Brinks partners were based in D.C. Two other group moves involved lawyers from multiple cities, a nine-lawyer corporate and technology group that left Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe to join Goodwin Procter, while a three-lawyer white-collar, investigation and securities enforcement group also left Orrick for Stroock & Stroock & Lavan. Orrick itself was on the acquisition binge, recruiting a 3-partner structured finance team from Chapman and Cutler. The other group acquisition in June involved a two-partner litigation group that joined Weil Gotshal & Manges from Gibson, Dunn.
For the second straight month, more than a third of the movers (22) in May were women, with 63.6 percent coming in as partners. That contrasted with 34 out of 42 (81.0%) of men who joined their new firms as partners.
In terms of practice area, Litigation and Intellectual Property once again headed the way, with 9 moves apiece. Other active areas included Banking/Finance (7 moves), White Collar/Investigations (4), SEC/CFTC Enforcement (4), Real Estate (3), Government Contracts (3), and International Trade (3).
