Private Equity Partners Left Out Of Biglaw’s Lateral Move Mania

Biglaw partners are on the move! That’s the message the industry’s received from data crunchers, but not everyone is included in that wave of lateral moves. According to data from recruiting firm Macrae, New York private equity partners have actually seen a dip in their lateral numbers. In the first half of 2025, there were only nine partner moves for that group — less than 50% of the 2024 total, as “cautious and deliberate” becomes the mantra for hiring PE partners.

Macrae partner Ryan Belville told Law.com that 2024’s slow year in the PE market makes the books of business for those partners look less enticing, plus you know, the whole what-the-hell’s-up-with-the-economy thing with “geopolitical uncertainty, tariffs and interest rates being sticky” equals cautious hiring decisions. And that’s despite total value of deals in PE up 28.7% this year, and even total number of deals is up a more modest 8.7%.

With partner paydays higher than ever, firms have to be circumspect about who they add to their ranks. And Belville is seeing that caution in the PE practices. “Rates are skyrocketing and comp packages are through the roof,” Belville said. “In private equity, firms are making incredibly significant investments, and they’re doing so with some uncertainty — both uncertainty that relationships will port and uncertainty that the sponsors that do port will be active and bring revenue in the door in the first couple years the partner is there.”

Michael Parrillo, founder and principal of legal recruiting firm Parrillo Search Group in New York, also notes that the aggressive partner hiring over the last four years means the pendulum has swung the other way into that “cautious and deliberate” mentality. But, for PE partners interested in making a lateral move, while there may not be a hiring frenzy, the appetite for a strong PE book of business is still there.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].