Goodwin Procter, a well-known law firm, has experienced a net gain of 254 lateral associates over the past two years. The firm has hired 646 lateral associates and lost 392 lateral associates during this period, averaging about one lateral associate move per day. The firm has hired more than 280 first-year associates and lateral hires in the past two years.
The hiring spree has paid off for Goodwin Procter, as the firm had a successful year in 2021. Profits per equity partner averaged $3.69 million in 2021, with a 27% increase in total hours worked and a 10.7% increase in total headcount. However, the high associate attrition rate of over 20% on a rolling annual basis in 2021 was a downside. A significant portion of the lateral hires, over 80%, were in transaction practices, which were affected by a decrease in demand during the second half of 2022.
In January 2023, the firm announced layoffs affecting 5% of its timekeepers and non-lawyer professionals. The Legal Compass data, which relies on profiles that may have remained online for many months, may not include these layoffs.
Joe Altonji, a firm management consultant and founding principal of LawVision, suggested that some associates joined Goodwin Procter leave after a short period. He stated, “For some people jumping from a 1,800-hour firm to a 2,800-hour firm, it was always going to be a short-term proposition. Folks were willing to endure it for some time.”
Mark Santiago of SB2 Consultants, another firm management consultant, told that the attrition rate may have reflected the working conditions during heavy deal work. He stated, “If what they were paying wasn’t enough to overcome the desire to get the heck out of Dodge because the conditions are so bad, … it feeds the narrative that associates are nothing but cannon fodder.”
Goodwin Procter has experienced a net gain of 254 lateral associates over the past two years, along with hiring over 280 first-year associates. The firm had a successful year in 2021, but the high associate attrition rate was a downside. Layoffs were announced in January 2023, affecting 5% of its timekeepers and non-lawyer professionals. The reason for the high turnover in lateral associates was speculated upon by experts, with some suggesting that the working conditions were a factor.
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Goodwin Procter averaged gain or loss of 1 lateral associate each day since 2020