News

In today’s fast-paced and interconnected world, career opportunities can come calling from any corner of the globe. Whether it’s a once-in-a-lifetime position in a bustling metropolis or an appealing role in a quaint, peaceful town, many professionals encounter the chance to make a lateral move to another city. But is it worth it?

Congratulations Massey & Gail LLP on this tremendous hire. It was truly our pleasure to work with the exceptionally talented @kylieckim. We are proud to continue our streak of extraordinary attorneys placed at this elite litigation boutique.

Navigating the legal landscape is an intricate endeavor; complexities multiply when you introduce the concept of mobility across state lines. The practice of law is often tethered to the jurisdiction where a lawyer is licensed, making a transition to a different state a significant undertaking. 

The legal industry is abuzz with a flurry of recent law firm merger activities. The most notable among these mergers, with Chicago implications, include Armstrong Teasdale with Novack & Macey, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe with Buckley LLP, and Freeborn & Peters with Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP. This whirlwind of activity has made it impossible not to speculate, “who’s next?”, and more importantly, “how am I situated if my firm merges?” These questions carry a significant amount of weight and importance, sparking a sense of urgency for everyone involved. In such scenarios, it’s vital to start formulating a game plan as soon as possible.

We followed an exceptional 2021 with another strong year for our clients. In 2022 we placed 15 attorneys with salaries totaling nearly $4 million. We placed 3 partners, 1 senior counsel, and 11 associates. 47 percent of our placements were at large firms and 53 percent were at mid-sized and boutique firms. Woman attorneys accounted for 47 percent of our placements and attorneys of color represented 33 percent. Litigation placements outpaced transactional placements nearly 4 to 1. 67 percent of our placed attorneys earned their law degrees from top 20 law schools and 73 percent of our litigators had clerkships. Highlights from 2022 included the placement of 6 relocating attorneys, 4 new law firm placements and the donation of $16,000 to charities from our referral program which we will continue in 2023.

We are optimistic that our business model of quality over quantity will produce another outstanding year as firms look to add elite talent situationally. To that end, we enter 2023 with several litigation and transactional positions to fill, primarily with our boutique law firm clients.

Atticus Recruiting would like to congratulate Fox Swibel and Brian Smith for joining the firm as a partner in the Corporate & Securities Group.

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Every year, Benchmark Litigation, the definitive guide to the world’s leading litigation firms and lawyers, sets out to identify the best and brightest litigators across the US and Canada.  The 2022 “40 & Under” list is now public.  Congratulations to Atticus Recruiting alums Brian Borchard of Goodsmith Gregg & Unruth, Rachel Morse of Massey & Gail, and Caitlin Kovacs of Massey & Gail for their selection to this elite list of litigation attorneys.

Read the full article here.

In June we placed two corporate attorneys, one partner with a portable business and one associate, at a full-service law boutique and an Am Law 25 law firm respectively.  We also received five offers for our clients.

For the first half of 2022, we placed eleven attorneys who received aggregate annual compensation of $3.15 million.  These placements included two partners with portable business, one counsel and eight associates. Seven attorneys are litigators and four are transactional practitioners.  Nearly half of our placements are women (5 of 11) and thirty-six percent (4 of 11) are non-white.

Going into the second half of the year we have several positions to fill, and we remain optimistic for legal hiring for the remainder of 2022.

Thank you to all our candidate and employer clients, supporters and friends.  We wish you all a safe and enjoyable July 4^th holiday and a wonderful summer!

According to a recent American Lawyer article, associate turnover is “among the biggest post-pandemic challenges confronting law firms in 2022.”  The article cites the Thomson Reuters Institute 2022 Report on the State of the Legal Market that indicates the associate attorney turnover rate for all law firms reached 23.2% through November 2021 on a rolling 12-month basis. For Am Law 100 firms, the turnover rate hit 23.7% during the same period, compared to 22.1% for the Am Law Second Hundred and 22.0% for midsize law firms.  Stated more starkly, nearly 1 in 4 associates left their law firm in 2021! 

We are exceptionally proud of our role in this placement. Renai is an extremely skilled lawyer, and even better person, and Ropes exhibited extraordinary vision for her role with the firm from the initial interview. Congratulations Renai and Ropes & Gray!

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