So, there’s this thing about associates at law firms quitting their jobs, right? According to some fancy study by the NALP Foundation for Law Career Research and Education, the attrition rate for these folks was 20% in 2024. That’s up from 18% in 2023, but hey, it’s still lower than the big 26% they hit in 2021. So, I guess that’s something to feel kinda good about, maybe?
Anyway, the study also found that the attrition rate was higher for ladies at 22%, compared to the dudes at 20%. And get this, it was even “markedly higher” for associates of color, sitting at a whopping 24% versus the 19% for white associates. Ouch.
Now, here’s where it gets a bit more interesting. Apparently, more associates are jumping ship sooner than before. Like, in 2024, a whopping 74% of them left within four years of being hired. That’s up from 72% in 2023. So, not really sure why this matters, but it’s a change from the usual five-year pattern they had going on.
Oh, and the survey also mentioned that there was a rise in both hiring and departures in 2024. More associates were hired, totaling 6,092 at the reporting firms. That’s a jump from the 5,236 hired in 2023. And guess what? More associates left too – 4,125 to be exact, compared to 3,875 in 2023.
Now, when it comes to where these new associates are coming from, 55% were hired at the entry level. It was even higher in the big firms with over 1,000 lawyers, where a whopping 61% were fresh entries. So, I don’t know about you, but that seems like a lot of new faces walking in the door.
Fiona Trevelyan Hornblower, the big shot over at the NALP Foundation, seems to think there’s something going on with these trends. She mentioned something about changes in the talent market, what with the rise in entry-level recruitment and associates leaving earlier. Not really sure what all that means, but hey, she seems to have her finger on the pulse.
And get this, more of the big firms responded to the survey than the smaller ones. Only 17% of them had 100 or fewer lawyers, while a whopping 37% had over 500 attorneys. So, I guess the big dogs are the ones willing to spill the beans on what’s going on in their offices.
So, there you have it. Associates are quitting left and right, new faces are walking in the door, and the big firms are the ones doing all the talking. Not really sure why this matters, but maybe it’s just me, but I feel like there’s something bigger going on here. Maybe we’ll find out soon enough.
