Every
year,
the
NALP
Foundation
drops
its
annual Update
on
Associate
Attrition,
and
every
year,
it
feels
like
law
firms
should
be
desperately
wringing
their
hands
over
all
those
associates
walking
out
the
door
—
especially
as
the
departures
hit
record
levels.
But
before
we
get
into
the
2025
numbers,
let’s
remember:
for
a
significant
portion
of
Biglaw,
associate
attrition
isn’t
a
bug.
It’s
a
feature.
Biglaw
firms
make
enormous
amounts
of
money
off
junior
and
midlevel
associates
billing
at
rates
that
have
little
to
do
with
their
actual
compensation.
Better,
from
a
pure
profit
standpoint,
to
have
a
constant
stream
of
fresh
first-
and
second-years
hungry
to
prove
themselves
than
to
accumulate
too
many
expensive
senior
associates
who
might
start
asking
uncomfortable
questions
about
the
partnership
track.
The
up-or-out
model
didn’t
become
the
industry
standard
by
accident.
The
splashy
number
this
year
is
that
a
record-breaking
83%
of
associates
who
departed
in
2025
did
so
within
five
years
of
being
hired,
up
from
2024’s
80%.
The
NALP
Foundation’s
own
Fiona
Trevelyan
calls
this
a
“talent
management
imperative”
worth
close
attention.
Which,
sure.
But
it’s
worth
asking
which
firms
are
actually
alarmed
by
that
figure
and
which
accept
it
as
business
as
usual.
The
overall
attrition
rate
landed
at
19%,
down
a
hair
from
last
year’s
20%.
The
smallest
firms
(100
or
fewer
attorneys)
still
showed
a
much
higher
rate
at
24%,
while
the
larger
cohorts
came
in
between
16%
and
18%.
The
gap
between
small
and
large
isn’t
mysterious
—
smaller
firms
can’t
readily
match
the
compensation
or
platform
of
their
bigger
competitors
—
but
it’s
also
worth
noting
that
for
a
firm
printing
money
on
associate
billing,
16–18%
annual
attrition
is
a
perfectly
calibrated
churn
rate.
Not
so
fast
it
creates
chaos,
not
so
slow
that
expensive
senior
associates
start
clogging
the
pyramid.
Here’s
the
data
point
that
actually
deserves
scrutiny:
firms
classified
47%
of
2025
associate
departures
as
“unwanted”
—
meaning
they
genuinely
didn’t
want
those
people
to
leave.
That’s
less
than
half.
A
substantial
27%
were
flagged
as
“desired”
departures.
In
plain
English:
more
than
one
in
four
associate
departures
in
2025
was
a
firm
quietly,
or
not
so
quietly,
showing
someone
the
door
or
at
minimum
being
perfectly
fine
watching
them
walk
out.
And
the
report
notes
that
firms
more
often
designated
lateral
associates,
male
associates,
and
associates
of
color
as
“desired”
departures
compared
to
their
entry-level,
female,
and
white
peers.
Make
of
that
what
you
will.
Associates
of
color
departed
at
a
25%
rate
versus
16%
for
White
associates
—
a
gap
that
has
persisted
stubbornly
across
multiple
years
of
this
report.
Associates
of
color
also
made
up
just
33%
of
2025
hires,
down
from
36%
in
2024.
So
they’re
being
hired
at
lower
rates and leaving
faster.
This
is
the
definition
of
a
leaky
pipeline,
and
no
amount
of
affinity
group
programming
is
patching
it.
On
the
hiring
side,
lateral
hires
(3,296)
outpaced
entry-level
hires
(3,039)
in
2025,
reversing
last
year’s
trend.
Firms
are
buying
experience
off
the
shelf
rather
than
growing
it,
which
makes
sense
if
your
junior
associate
factory
is
producing
people
who
leave
before
year
five
anyway.
Lateral
hires
cost
more
upfront,
especially
given
that
headhunters
and
search
firms
remain
the
top
source
for
them
at
39%,
but
firms
can
better
control
quality
and
the
practice
areas
they
grow
with
laterals.
The
boomerang
associate
trend
—
firms
rehiring
their
own
former
people
—
cooled
significantly.
In
2024,
former
associates
made
up
11%
of
all
hires.
In
2025,
just
6%.
The
share
of
firms
reporting
at
least
one
rehire
dropped
from
49%
to
44%.
Whether
that’s
fewer
former
associates
wanting
back
in,
or
fewer
firms
willing
to
take
them,
is
an
interesting
question.
For
the
first
time,
this
year’s
survey
asked
whether
a
desire
for
AI
training
or
support
influenced
associates’
decisions
to
leave
their
firms.
That’s
smart
future-proofing
on
NALP
Foundation’s
part,
because
this
is
only
going
to
become
a
bigger
factor.
Associates
who
feel
their
firms
are
dragging
their
feet
on
AI
tools
and
training
while
simultaneously
using
AI
to
justify
staffing
fewer
associates
will
not
quietly
accept
that
bargain.
The
2025
attrition
data
shows
firms
hiring
more,
losing
more,
and
doing
so
at
a
pace
their
business
model
was
more
or
less
designed
to
sustain.
The
record
early-departure
rate
is
worth
watching.
The
diversity
gap
is
inexcusable
and
persistent.
And
the
next
time
a
firm’s
managing
partner
tells
you
associate
retention
is
a
top
priority,
you
might
want
to
ask
them
what
percentage
of
their
departures
they
flagged
as
“desired.”
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
Bluesky @Kathryn1