We’re taking a look at recent lateral attorney hiring activity in Flo. The data below reflects trends we’re seeing across lateral non-partner searches in Flo Recruit Applicant Tracking, including how candidates are sourced, in which practice areas firms are opening searches, and how candidates are progressing to offer and hire. While this is not a comprehensive view of the legal market, it does provide a snapshot of recent lateral recruiting activity of 65 law firms, spanning midsize and BigLaw. Based on this early-year data, lateral activity inside Flo is off to a strong start in 2026.
Among lateral non-partner candidates who progressed past the initial screening interview in Flo, agencies represent the largest source category at just under 40%. However, write-in candidates and referrals, each accounting for more than 25%, are not far behind. Looking at the window from the end of 2025 through the beginning of Q1 2026 suggests that firms using Flo are leveraging multiple sourcing paths to generate lateral movement. Agency submissions are clearly active within the platform, but direct candidate entry and referral networks are also contributing significantly to this candidate pool.
General Litigation leads lateral search creation in Flo at almost 22%, followed by strong activity in Real Estate and Corporate. Beyond those areas, there is a broad distribution of searches across additional specialties. Tax, IP, and Banking & Finance each represent a meaningful share of activity at nearly 10% each, alongside several other practice areas. The 2026 Citi Hildebrandt Client Advisory report suggests that the coming year will include a varied mix of practices, to counteract the slower transactional market. This matches what we are seeing so far in the lateral activity within Flo.
Early 2026 has shown stronger weekly movement to “Offer” compared to the same period last year in Flo, with weekly offer volume more than doubling during this window. There is also a noticeable uptick in the second week of February. While this suggests that lateral offers are off to a strong start in Flo for 2026, ATS client growth also contributes to volume increase, so patterns in “Offer” timing are more pertinent than volume alone. We’ll continue monitoring how weekly offer activity trends as the year progresses.
Year-to-date in Flo, lateral non-partner candidates moved to “Hired” are trending ahead of the same period last year. The increase in hires follows the rise in offers, suggesting continued momentum in searches being managed within the platform. While December 2025 marked a recent peak, the renewed increase in February indicates that hiring activity may continue to build as we move further into Q1. As with the other data points, this reflects early-year movement inside Flo rather than a full-year projection, and ATS client growth plays a role in volume increases
Taken together, this recent Flo data offers a view into how lateral hiring activity is trending across late 2025 and early 2026 within the platform. While sources of candidates, practice area demand, and movement to offer and hire can shift quickly, the early-year data in Flo points to increased activity and a broad range of practice groups hiring. We’ll continue to monitor these patterns and share what we’re seeing as we move into Q2. To learn more about how Flo can help with lateral attorney hiring, reach out.
