Dallas Lateral Movement Overview

Over the last 12 months, there were a total of 599 lateral attorney moves in Dallas. 308 with Associate, 198 with Partner, 57 with Counsel and 36 with Attorney titles. The top five practices with the most movement are as follows:

Litigation- 33% of Lateral Moves
Corporate- 21% of Lateral Moves
Intellectual Property- 9% of Lateral Moves
Real Estate- 8% of Lateral Moves
Banking- 7% of Lateral Moves

*Lateral data copyright 2018 Firm Prospects, LLC. All rights reserved. Used with permission. Not for redistribution.*

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Coming and Going

PARTNER HIGHLIGHTS

The biggest winners are the flag planters. Katten broke into the market and is at a total of fourteen lateral partners at the close of 2018 including seven Corporate, Real Estate and Litigation partners from Hunton Andrews Kurth, a Corporate partner from McDermott, three Litigation partners from Perkins Coie and Bracewell and two additional Healthcare partners from Norton Rose and Winstead. Sheppard Mullin assembled an impressive team of ten partners from a variety of firms including three IP partners from K&L Gates and Locke Lord, two Real Estate partners from Quilling Selander, two Corporate partners from Polsinelli and Hunton Andrews Kurth, two Litigators from Polsinelli and Foley and an L&E partner from Polsinelli all now call Sheppard Mullin home. Denver based Spencer Fane opened Dallas doores in 2016 added ten lateral partners in 2018 including two Real Estate and an IP partner from Clark Hill, one Real Estate and one Data Privacy partner from Scheef & Stone, Litigators from Kilpatrick Townsend, Dentons and Frost Brown & Todd, a Corporate partner from Phelps Dunbar and an Energy partner from Norton Rose. Kirkland launched in Dallas in 2018 and has a group of nine powerhouse Corporate partners as the nucleus of their office. And Kansas City based Stinson Leonard Street expanded when the eight member Lackey Hershman firm changed the shingle and joined the 500+ attorneys at the litigation shop. Other notable growth includes DLA (+8), Jackson Walker (+8), and Akerman (+8). Firms with the most partner departures include Foley Lardner (-20), Hunton Andrews Kurth (-17), Winstead (-11), and Clark Hill (-10).