For Candidates · Partners
A lateral move is a decade-long decision. It should start with a private conversation.
We are a confidential recruiter for law-firm partners — the mover's side of the table. We help you read your own portability honestly, prepare your LPQ, work through covenants and garden leave, and arrive at the right platform without your current firm ever knowing you looked. You pay nothing; the hiring firm pays the fee.
The firm has advisers. So should you.
When a partner moves, the hiring firm runs a disciplined process — diligence on your book, conflicts clearance, an offer engineered to its economics. Too many partners walk into that process with no equivalent counsel of their own.
That is the gap we close. We represent the partner, not the firm's hiring need. We help you test whether a move is even right before you commit, give you a candid read on what actually moves with you, and stand with you through the questionnaire, the covenants and the negotiation. Our fee is paid by the firm; our duty of candour is to you.
A move is rarely about money alone, but the spread is real: a stalled path to equity, a tier demotion, or a de-equitization is among the most common reasons a strong practice starts to look elsewhere. We help you separate that pressure from the question of whether the next platform is actually better — and for whom.
For the firm-side view of a lateral search — how hiring firms underwrite a book of business and engineer the offer — read the service page. Knowing how the other side builds its case is part of how you protect yours.
Most lateral disappointment is a portability problem.
The data is sobering, and it is the same data the hiring firm is reading. Knowing it puts you on equal footing in every conversation that follows.
- 30–38%
- of lateral partners leave their new firm within five years.
- Decipher Intelligence, via Above the Law (2026)
- ~73%
- of clients stay with the original firm rather than follow a departing partner.
- Acritas, cited by Decipher Intelligence
- ~70%
- of firms have seen a lateral leave within five years for failing to bring promised business.
- Decipher Intelligence (AmLaw 200 / UK 100 survey)
- 200–400%
- of the lawyer's annual compensation is what a failed lateral can cost the hiring firm.
- Decipher Intelligence
Claimed books roughly doubled in the pandemic era — from an average near $1.2M to $2.4M (Decipher Intelligence). Hiring firms have responded by underwriting the book harder, not taking it on faith. For a partner, that shifts the advantage to whoever can evidence their practice rather than merely assert it: a realistic, defensible portability read is your strongest negotiating position, and it is what keeps you out of the failure statistics above. We show you how to build one in our guide to the LPQ and portable book of business.
Five inflection points — walk the move before you make it.
Each is a real mechanism of a partner transition, not a sales stage. We work through all five with you, in order, and only as far as you want to go.
- I
The quiet conversation
Before anything is committed to paper, we talk in confidence — what you want from the next decade, what your current platform can and cannot give you, and whether a move is even the right answer. Often the most valuable outcome is clarity that you should stay.
- II
Portability, pressure-tested
We work through your practice client-by-client: who is institutional to the firm, who is loyal to you, and what is realistically portable versus what merely feels portable. An honest portability read protects you in every negotiation that follows.
- III
Conflicts & the LPQ
We map likely conflicts early and prepare you for the Lateral Partner Questionnaire — the detailed disclosure every credible firm requires. Describing matters by general type, never by privileged client narrative, keeps you compliant while the firm completes its diligence.
- IV
Offer, covenants & garden leave
Guarantee structure, equity track, origination credit, and the restrictive covenants and notice you are leaving under — read from your side, not the firm's. A multi-year guarantee should reflect a defensible book, not an inflated one. Garden leave is managed, not endured: a planned, paid bridge between platforms with a clear landing date, used to set up the client transition rather than wait it out.
- V
The first hundred days
Onboarding, client transition done correctly, and integration into the new partnership. The move is not finished when you sign; it is finished when your practice is settled and your clients have followed.
Every reason a partner hesitates — answered before you ask.
Senior partners have heard it all, and have been burned before. The worry on the left, in their own words; our standing commitment on the right.
Go in informed.
Move at your own pace. Read first, talk when you are ready — nothing obligates you, and nothing reaches your current firm.
The Lateral Partner Questionnaire (LPQ), explained
What every firm will ask, what portability really means, and how to disclose your book without breaching privilege.
Read the LPQ guideLateral partner recruiting — the firm-side view
How hiring firms run a confidential partner search and underwrite a book of business. Useful to understand the table you'll sit at.
See the serviceConfidential partner opportunities
Selected lateral and practice-group openings, many never advertised. Browse without your name attached to anything.
View partner openingsQuestions partners ask before they call
Do partners pay a legal recruiter?
No. As a candidate you pay nothing. Our fee is paid by the hiring firm, in line with standard executive-search practice. What you receive is a confidential adviser whose value depends on placing you well — and on telling you honestly when a move does not serve you.
How do you keep my search confidential?
Confidentiality is the engagement itself. We never circulate your CV, never name you to a firm, and never put your candidacy in front of anyone without your explicit go-ahead for that specific firm. Conversations happen on your terms and your timeline; nothing is disclosed to your current partnership.
What is a portable book of business, and how do you assess it?
Portability is the gap between the book a partner believes is theirs and the book that actually moves. We pressure-test it client-by-client — distinguishing relationships that are institutional to your current firm from those loyal to you personally, and weighing conflicts, fee structures and client intent. Acritas research cited by Decipher Intelligence found roughly 73% of clients stay with the original firm rather than follow a departing partner, so the honest answer is usually more measured than the instinct. Knowing your real number before a firm asks protects you in every negotiation that follows. Our guide to the Lateral Partner Questionnaire (LPQ) explains exactly what a hiring firm will ask.
What is the Lateral Partner Questionnaire (LPQ)?
The LPQ is the detailed disclosure form every credible firm requires before extending a partner offer — covering your book, originations, conflicts, billing history and references. We prepare you to complete it accurately while protecting privilege: matters are described by general type (e.g. "a Fortune 500 energy company in an FCPA matter"), never by client narratives that breach confidentiality. See the LPQ explained.
How do garden leave and restrictive covenants affect my move?
Garden leave keeps you paid while restricting your activity through your notice period; we treat it as a planned, paid bridge between platforms with a clear landing date, not dead time. Restrictive covenants — non-solicitation, non-deal and confidentiality clauses — are enforceable only to protect legitimate interests and only so far as reasonable. We help you read your terms and structure the move so you arrive clean.
How long does a confidential lateral partner move take?
It varies with conflicts clearance, the firm's diligence on your book, and your notice and garden-leave terms — typically several months from first conversation to start date, sometimes longer for complex conflicts or large practice groups. We run the process so the timeline serves you, not the other way around.
Can you move my whole practice group, not just me?
Yes. Practice-group and team moves are among the most valuable — and most delicate — searches we run, because confidentiality has to hold across several partners at once. The mechanics on the firm side are covered on our lateral partner recruiting service page; the conversation always starts with the lead partner.
Start in confidence
The most important move of your career deserves one honest conversation.
No CV required to begin, no obligation, and nothing disclosed to your current firm. We listen first, and we will tell you if staying is the better call.