In
his
Bloomberg
column
this
week,
David
Lat
explores
whether
making
or
refusing
to
make
deals
with
Trump
has
affected
attrition
at
14
law
firms
targeted
by
the
president.
Armed
with
data
from
SurePoint
Legal
Insights
about
changes
in
headcount
over
the
last
six
months,
Lat
concludes
that
“the
Trump
deals
might
be
affecting,
but
not
fundamentally
altering,
law
firms’
overall
trajectories.”
Whether
coincidence
or
cause
and
effect,
or
some
combination
thereof,
a
few
stats
are
worth
highlighting:
-
On
average,
Am
Law
100
firms
saw
attrition
of
-1.7% -
The
five
firms
subjected
to
executive
orders
that
did
not
capitulate
averaged
a
2.8%
decline
in
headcount -
The
nine
firms
that
made
deals
with
Trump
averaged
a
4.9%
drop -
Two
firms
that
cut
deals
—
A&O
Shearman
and
Cadwalader
—
had
the
steepest
declines
(-10%
and
-11%,
respectively) -
The
only
two
firms
whose
headcount
increased
also
settled
(Milbank
expanded
by
5%
and
Simpson
Thacher
by
2%) -
Perkins
Coie,
which
is
fighting
the
EO,
shrank
by
8%
—
the
same
attrition
rate
as
Paul,
Weiss
and
Skadden,
the
first
two
firms
to
cut
deals -
Covington
and
Jenner
&
Block,
neither
of
which
settled,
basically
broke
even
Trump
Deals
Coincide
With
Attrition
at
Some—but
Not
All—Firms
[Bloomberg
Law]