Big Law Lateral Market May Face ‘Shelter-in-Place’ Moment

With law firms making moves to protect their balance sheets, law firm leaders promoting lateral hiring are likely to face a partnership skeptical of long-term investments. How they manage that may be the deciding factor in whether the law firm lateral market stays hot or sees its own “shelter-in-place” moment.

Rorschach Test: The week’s news provided a sort of Rorschach test for the market. Willkie Farr & Gallagher made a large investment in a new Chicago office while another Wall Street firm, Cadwalader, announced it would freeze capital distributions during “peak months” of the crisis.

Changes Coming Fast: “This week ...