Lateral partner recruiters for firms of 5 to 200 attorneys

What the role means at a US firm

A lateral partner is a partner who moves from one firm to another with an established practice. At a firm of 5 to 200 attorneys, the hire usually does one of three jobs. The partner brings clients the firm does not have, fills a practice area where the firm is turning work away, or anchors a new group or office.

Firms rarely hire lateral partners on a schedule. A client need, a departure, or a growth plan opens the seat, and the firm wants the search done quietly.

The title also differs by firm. Some firms have one tier of equity partners. Others run a two-tier partnership, with income partners or non-equity partners below the equity tier. The same person can receive an offer for either seat, and the terms are very different. Part of every search is agreeing which seat is on offer.

What firms screen for

A hiring partner or executive committee screens a lateral partner on six things:

• Practice fit. The partner's work matches work the firm can staff and has room for.
• Portable business. Which clients are likely to follow, and what the partner's real role in each relationship is.
• Origination history. What the partner originated, as against what the partner inherited or shared.
• Conflicts. Whether the partner's clients and matters clear the receiving firm's conflicts check.
• Platform fit. Whether the partner's rates, staffing model, and expectations suit a firm of that size.
• Partner fit. How the partner will work with the existing partners. At a firm this size, every partner is visible to every other.

Portable business and how it is verified

Firms ask about portable business first. A book of business is not the same as portable business. A partner can be credited with origination on work that the former firm's brand, a senior partner, or an institutional relationship actually drives. The receiving firm wants to know which clients would move and which would stay.

Verification happens in stages. The partner first describes the book at summary level: practice area, industry, the rough size of each relationship, and the partner's role. The firm then asks for more detail. Expect questions about who originated each relationship, who does the work, who holds the client contact for billing and for strategy, and whether any engagement letter or outside counsel guideline limits a move.

The firm does the verifying, not Bound. Bound prepares the partner to discuss portable business accurately. Bound will not oversell a book to a firm, and will tell the partner plainly if the numbers do not support the search.

Conflicts screening and the lateral partner questionnaire

Before an offer, the receiving firm's conflicts team checks the partner's clients and matters against the firm's existing clients. This usually runs in stages. A first pass uses limited information, such as client names and the general nature of the matters. A fuller review follows once interest is mutual.

ABA Model Rule 1.6(b)(7) permits a lawyer to disclose limited information to detect and resolve conflicts when changing firms, provided the disclosure does not compromise privilege or prejudice the client. State rules differ. A partner should confirm what applies in their state with their own ethics counsel.

The lateral partner questionnaire (LPQ) is the form firms use to collect this information: practice description, clients, origination, billings, working credit, matters, and compensation history. It is also where a firm tests the story the partner told on the phone. A partner who has gathered the answers in advance moves faster and answers more consistently. Bound helps the partner organize the information. The partner owns the answers.

Equity and income partner compensation

At partner level, the structure of the pay matters as much as the number. An equity partner is usually paid from a share of firm profits, set by a formula or by a committee, and may have to contribute capital. An income partner or non-equity partner is usually paid a salary and sometimes a bonus, with no ownership stake and often a defined route to the equity tier.

Firms of 5 to 200 attorneys use many variations: origination-driven formulas, lockstep and modified lockstep, and discretionary committees. Some offer a guaranteed draw for a first period.

A partner comparing offers should ask for the formula in writing, the credit given for origination and for working attorneys, the capital requirement, how the first year is treated, and what happens to pay if portable business arrives more slowly than planned.

Bound's fee is 25% of base salary at every level. For partners, how base salary is defined (guaranteed compensation, draw, or salary) is agreed in writing before the search starts.

Why partner searches are different

A partner search carries more risk than any other. If a partner's current firm learns of a move early, the partner can lose clients, leadership roles, or standing. If a hiring firm's own partners hear of an approach that goes nowhere, that has an internal cost too.

For that reason, Bound approaches partners without naming the hiring firm until the firm agrees. A partner's resume goes to a firm only after the partner approves that specific firm. Bound never contacts a partner's current firm.

A partner who is leaving also owes duties to current clients and to the current firm. Bound does not give legal advice. Partners should take advice from ethics counsel on notice, client communication, and departure terms.

The market at this level

Lateral partner moves at mid-sized firms follow events, not an annual cycle: a practice group shrinking, a merger, a change in firm leadership, a change to a compensation formula, a client conflict at the old firm. Demand is specific to a practice area and a state.

This page quotes no market figures, because most published partner compensation data describes the largest firms and would mislead at a firm of your size. Bound goes through current compensation structures and demand for your practice area and state on the intake call.

How Bound runs a search at this level

The intake call covers the practice you want to add, the book you are looking for, the seat on offer (equity or income), the compensation structure, and who in the firm needs to be involved. Bound then identifies partners in your market whose practice matches yours and approaches them on your behalf. The list stays with Bound. You see the partners who are interested.

Introductions are by practice area. A partner is only put in front of a firm whose needs match the practice. Bound coordinates the first conversations, the LPQ, and the offer discussion.

Bound works on contingency at every level. The fee is 25% of the candidate's base salary, payable within 14 days of the candidate's start date, with a free replacement within 90 days. There is no retainer and no upfront cost.

Related practice areas

Bound runs lateral partner searches in these practice areas. Introductions are always matched to the practice.

• Corporate and M&A
• Commercial Litigation
• Labor and Employment
• Real Estate
• Trusts and Estates
• Insurance Defense
• Intellectual Property
• Healthcare
• Bankruptcy and Restructuring
• Tax

Other roles Bound recruits

• Practice Group and Team Moves
• Of Counsel
• Senior Associate
• Associate Attorney
• Paralegals and Legal Professionals

Who runs the search

Jim Knott, Bound's founder, runs every search himself, from the first call to the signed offer. There is no rotating team and no handoff. You can read his background before you call.

If you are an attorney or legal professional at this level, register confidentially. Your resume goes to a firm only after you approve that specific firm.