Are associates leaving law firms earlier?
Yes. A record 83 percent of associates who left their firms in 2025 did it within five years of hire, up from 80 percent in 2024, per the NALP Foundation.
Lateral hires beat entry-level hires, 3,296 to 3,039. The year before, entry-level hiring led. Firms buy experience instead of growing it.
The NALP Foundation's 2024 report found 18 percent of departing associates went in-house, up from 15 percent the year before. 41 percent joined another firm. Associates plan the exit early, and firms backfill with laterals.
- Participating firms
- 2024
- 119
- 2025
- 141
- Overall attrition rate
- 2024
- 20%
- 2025
- 19%
- Associate hires
- 2024
- 6,092
- 2025
- 6,335
- Associate departures
- 2024
- 4,125
- 2025
- 4,442
- Departures within five years of hire
- 2024
- 80%
- 2025
- 83%
- Lateral share of hires
- 2024
- 45%
- 2025
- 52%
| Measure | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Participating firms | 119 | 141 |
| Overall attrition rate | 20% | 19% |
| Associate hires | 6,092 | 6,335 |
| Associate departures | 4,125 | 4,442 |
| Departures within five years of hire | 80% | 83% |
| Lateral share of hires | 45% | 52% |
Which associates get in-house-ready experience first?
The ones on larger deals. In the corporate searches we run, that is what in-house teams ask for most often.
Deal work is concentrating into fewer, larger transactions. An associate on those deals builds in-house-ready experience sooner.
Why is the in-house move happening earlier?
The in-house teams we work with hire earlier than they used to.
Companies that waited for a fifth or sixth year now open the search at the third or fourth. That is where the candidates are.
Not long ago the in-house searches we run were a year or two more senior. So a jump before the mid-level mark is realistic now.
What class year should in-house teams hire?
I'd open the search at the third or fourth year.
If the associate you want is leaving at year three or four, waiting for a fifth year means fewer of them. The teams hiring well in 2026 moved the target down a class or two. They finish the training themselves.
Write the spec for that class year and set the budget and ramp plan to match. A search written for the old target stays open while candidates take other offers.
What class year is your open search written for? I'd check the budget against that year too.
When should an associate go in-house?
When one or two matters on your résumé show you owned them.
Leaving at year three with one deal of real substance is different from touching the edges of ten. In-house hiring managers screen junior lawyers hard for depth.
An early move can backfire when you were on the deal team but owned none of it. It tends to come out in the interview.
If you're a third-year thinking about it, I'd ask two things. Which matter would you walk a hiring manager through, and what part of it was yours?