Laterals And Clerks Are Dominating New-Associate Ranks, Study Finds

Abraham Reich was quoted in the New Jersey Law Journal article "Laterals and Clerks Are Dominating New-Associate Ranks, Study Finds." While the full text can be found in the October 21, 2013, issue of New Jersey Law Journal, a synopsis is noted below.

A recent Law Journal survey found that during the 2013 hiring year, 41.9 percent of hires by law firms surveyed were lateral hires. Another 29.5 percent were without practice experience, but had completed postgraduate clerkships, pointing to a growing trend among hiring for law firms.

"Every major firm in the country is doing the same thing," said Abraham Reich.

Reich says law school recruiting remains a good strategy because it improves retention. The "reality of the marketplace today is that most first-year associates go in expecting to move within five years," he says. "There isn't a week that goes by that we're not presented with an opportunity for lateral growth."