Let’s say your law firm is doing everything right: You developed a talent strategy that advances the firm’s business objectives; you created a short list of potential lateral partners who represent target clients in key markets; you performed comprehensive due diligence to confirm your candidates’ legal skills, business development acumen, and personality.
But will the clients move with them?
It’s the No. 1 question when it comes to the return on investment for lateral partner recruitment, and for good reason: Too many firms commit considerable compensation to lawyers whose promised book of business never materializes.
While every lateral hire is different, understanding client portability trends can help you better plan your approach and offers – and identify where additional due diligence on client relationships is warranted.
The Overall Market
In 2024, lateral candidates reported an average of 14.2 clients, with an estimated 8.1 expected to transition with them. This represents a 57 percent client retention rate, which reflects a decrease from 64 percent in 2023. This drop is most likely due to the overabundance of up-and-coming and service partners that flooded the market in 2024.
Across the sector, over the past four years laterals have claimed an average of 60 percent, or a little better than half, of clients moving with them.
Take note that client portability is not uniform; it varies by practice, location and lawyer experience level. This adds another important level of data for law firms looking to fill specific offices or bolster certain practices.
Client Portability by City
Some markets, like Dallas and Silicon Valley, demonstrated significantly higher client portability rates – 40 percent higher – in 2024. Other markets, like Houston, showed substantially lower client portability.
It’s worth noting that Northern California (Silicon Valley and San Francisco) had much stronger client portability rates than its southern counterpart in Los Angeles. This reflects the fundamentally different talent pools in these markets; while Silicon Valley and San Francisco have invested in lawyers with private equity and technology relationships, Los Angeles has seen more movement with litigators and real estate partners.
Client Portability by Practice
Across all practice groups, Banking & Finance reported the lowest client portability rates. This is most likely attributable to the combination of many service partners on the market in 2024 and the well-established relationships that commercial banks, private equity firms and hedge funds maintain with specific firms and/or particular partners.
Conversely, practice areas where clients tend to engage legal services less frequently (e.g., Tax, Labor & Employment and Bankruptcy), demonstrate the highest rates of retention with the transitioning partner. In many cases, long-standing client relationships, cultivated over many years, foster strong client loyalty with these partners. These practice areas are also relatively uniform and are more easily transferable to other firms.
Client Portability by Years of Experience
As one might expect, the lowest rates of client portability come at opposite ends of the spectrum: junior partners with 10 or fewer years of experience and the most senior partners with 41 or more years of experience.
One notable difference emerges between partners with 21 to 30 years of experience and those with 31 to 40 years of experience. While those with 21 to 30 years of experience track at the average for client portability, lawyers with 31 to 40 years of experience command the strongest client loyalty at 86 percent. These lawyers may be approaching the end of their careers, but they maintain solid rainmaking potential.
What This Means for You
Lateral hiring remains the fastest path to market share, delivering results faster and more predictably than RFPs, pitches and proposals, organic brand-building, and even mergers and acquisitions. This isn’t limited to onboarding new clients; smart law firms are bolstering cross-selling initiatives by looking at existing clients, charting who handles their work outside the firm, and developing short lists of prospective partners.
Again, you should generally expect your lateral partners to claim around 60 percent client portability, but every candidate will be subject to variances depending on practice, location, experience level, and other factors (such as how aggressive the legacy firm will get in efforts to retain their clients). Decipher helps law firms benchmark potential candidates’ client portability rates and assess their overall book of business.
When law firms can reliably predict how many (and which) clients will move with their laterals, they are far better positioned to manage risk, set appropriate compensation, and realize meaningful ROI on recruiting efforts. Contact us today to learn how we can help.
