I shared my thoughts last week with the The American Lawyer team on the trend of senior in-house practitioners joining biglaw firms as partners. A few additional thoughts: 1) One factor driving these moves is the increased regulatory climate. There are a number of in-house counsel who are highly experienced in areas like privacy and antitrust. Hiring these practitioners allows firms to put together and market a strong bench of regulatory specialists with industry specific expertise. 2) Another trend that may be influencing this is the fact that the competition for clients is increasing. We are moving further away from the model of institutional clients. Many companies now instruct multiple firms depending on specific areas of expertise. Biglaw firms are therefore strategically targeting senior in-house counsel to unlock additional revenue streams with an existing client e.g. a firm may be instructed on a company's M&A work but make a strategic hire in order to also get instructed on antitrust matters. 3) The article focuses on tech. However, we have observed this trend across a number of sectors such as the energy & infrastructure space. Link to the article: https://lnkd.in/eRafeaNP Follow me for more #biglaw market commentary, intel and roles.
Steve Salem
2mo
Excellent insights David Nicol, we are seeing similar themes across the European antitrust markets (both Brussels and London) with firms looking at talent from the CMA/EU Commission to strengthen their regulatory expertise - particularly important given the implementation of both the DMA and DMCC.
Sarita Rai
2mo
This is excellent David Nicol and trends that we are seeing in the UK too!
Samson Amore
2mo
Thanks for your insights as always, Dave!
Senior Legal Recruiter | Associate, Partner & team moves in the funds, FS reg, PE, finance & restructuring practice areas.
2moThe second point is particularly interesting...whilst it's a sensible strategy to get closer to a client by hiring targeted senior in-house counsel, it needs to be delicately and precisely handled so as not to alienate the client or push them to another firm through the hire of any replacement (who may have their own preference for legal service provision). Quite the balancing act. Great content as always, David Nicol.