Why do associates leave law firms?
19% of associates left their firms in 2025, per the NALP Foundation 2025 associate attrition report. That is down from 20% in 2024. 83% of the departures came within 5 years of hire.
Smaller firms lose more. Attrition was 24% at firms with 100 or fewer attorneys, against 16% to 18% at larger firms.
The order below is what associates tell us on calls. Nothing scientific about it.
1. Pay and bonuses
About $130,000 is the median base a 3 to 4 year associate at a mid-size or regional firm reports to us. Commercial litigation and corporate/M&A associates report more than insurance defense (ID) associates.
Big Law is a different scale. Under the Milbank memo of June 2, 2026, first-years start at $235,000. The table puts the two side by side.
Roughly a quarter of ID associates report a zero bonus. When it is funded, an insurance defense year-end bonus typically runs 10% to 25% of base. Pay by practice group is in our review of associate attorney salary by practice area.
Four things I'd ask. Is the bonus formula in writing? Does it track billed hours or collections? What did associates at your level get last year? Do you have to be employed on the payout date to collect?
- 3 to 4 years
- Mid-size and regional
- About $130,000
- Milbank scale
- $270,000 to $320,000
- 5 to 7 years
- Mid-size and regional
- About $150,000
- Milbank scale
- $385,000 to $440,000
| Experience | Mid-size and regional (median base) | Milbank scale (base) |
|---|---|---|
| 3 to 4 years | About $130,000 | $270,000 to $320,000 |
| 5 to 7 years | About $150,000 | $385,000 to $440,000 |
2. Type and variety of work
Associates leave when the docket stops changing. In ID, that is years of auto and slip-and-fall files.
ID to commercial litigation can be done. Limited trial experience and the complexity of the work are what stall it. Construction defect and first-party property work are the usual way across, and deposition and trial experience carry over directly.
On the employment side, California firms hiring management-side associates ask us most often for wage and hour class action or PAGA experience. If your firm can't put you on that work, a lateral move may be how you get it.
3. Billable requirements
1,900 hours is the median across litigation practices. ID attorneys tell us their requirement runs about 1,920 a year. In Florida ID the median is 2,034.
Management-side employment associates tell us they are often required to bill 1,850 to 1,950 and end up at 2,000 to 2,300.
In our calls with lateral candidates, the ceiling they want next is 1,800 to 1,900. '2,000 is a hard no' has come up more than once. What is the billable requirement at the firm you are talking to? Our breakdown of law firm billable hours covers what each target does to a week.
4. Hybrid or remote options
About 82% of the attorneys who tell us what they want say hybrid or remote. About 7 in 10 openings on our job board, as of early October 2026, require full time in the office.
Galen Rader, our VP of Recruiting, hears the firm side. Most firms we work with start new hires at 5 days in the office, and after 90 days it is usually 2 to 3 days a week. Preference by experience and state is in our look at remote and hybrid attorney jobs.
Fully remote is rare, but it exists, usually for attorneys with a few years in. I wouldn't recommend it for a first or second year associate. You won't learn as fast as the associate working next to experienced partners.
5. Firm culture
Culture is fifth on the list.
I'd talk to a junior associate and a senior one who work for the partners you'd support. Ask how work gets assigned across the group and who handles business development. How often do associates make partner from inside the firm?
How to plan your next lateral move
Talk with our team about associate openings when you're ready. The search is confidential, and your name doesn't go to any firm without your permission. Which of the five is driving you?