A quarterly readout of lateral hiring movement across the AmLaw 100 / 200 — produced from CestoneAI's daily firm-direct dataset (16,000+ firms tracked, 9,000+ active roles, refreshed every 24 hours).
Greenberg Traurig leads the index with 247 active roles, more than the combined output of Cooley and Hogan Lovells. Anderson Kill & Olick's surge reflects an expansion year in insurance recovery + Skadden's New York staff cohort doubling on the corporate side.
Litigation remains the structural majority at 1,190 roles (28% of identified practice area), but the steepest QoQ growth sits in Corporate / M&A — a leading indicator the deal pipeline is back.
California (1,273) edges New York (1,271) by two roles — the closest the two coasts have run in three quarters. DC is closing on Florida for the #3 slot, on the back of regulatory + government-contracts demand.
Three structural shifts emerge from the dataset.
Greenberg Traurig, Skadden, Goodwin, and Simpson Thacher together post 35% of all active M&A roles. The same four firms led mid-2024 transactional cuts — the rehire wave is fully on.
Driven by government contracts + regulatory + IP litigation cohorts. Holland & Knight, DLA Piper, and Hogan Lovells together hold 38% of the DC roster.
First quarter on record where Operations beats RE for active openings. Signal: firms are investing in pricing, KM, and practice-tech infrastructure faster than transactional headcount.
The Lateral Movement Index is published quarterly under co-branding with one media + two consultancy partners. Q1 slots open — distribution partners get logo + pull-quote + first look at the structured data feed.
Q1 2026 edition published with [partner brand]. Co-branding inquiries → partnerships@data.placement.solutions
Daily firm-direct refresh · 16,000 firms · 9,000+ active roles · structured webhook + API · CestoneAI Data Feed.
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