The recent wave of firings and departures under President Donald Trump’s administration has led to a flood of talented lawyers seeking new opportunities in Washington, D.C.’s prominent legal market.
Law firms in the city are now receiving a surge of resumes from former government attorneys who have been ousted or voluntarily left their roles at U.S. agencies, creating a unique hiring environment.
“We’re seeing probably at least double the amount of usual applicants,” said Haley Lelah, global director of talent acquisition at McDermott Will & Emery, a leading international law firm. “This is definitely a unique situation.”
The resignation and firing of federal employees—including attorneys at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)—has led to a wealth of legal talent now seeking roles in private practice.
Kristin Koehler, managing partner at Sidley Austin’s D.C. office, noted that firms are seeing an influx of highly skilled candidates, many of whom are from agencies directly impacted by the shifting priorities of the Trump administration.
The mass departures stemmed from a variety of factors, including the president’s policy of terminating federal employees, prioritizing budget cuts, and imposing hiring freezes. Many government attorneys left voluntarily or were forced out amid shifts in federal agency leadership, particularly within organizations such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the U.S. Forest Service, and the DOJ’s investigation into Trump’s post-election actions. The resignation of approximately 500 employees from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) further exacerbated the situation.
“It’s like nothing we’ve ever seen before,” said Dan Binstock, a partner at Garrison & Sisson, a legal recruiting firm. “So many people are feeling unsettled, and we’re still trying to wrap our heads around it.”
Recruiters are seeing an unprecedented number of applications, with many potential candidates seeking more job security or fearing they may soon be targeted due to their roles in the previous administration. Justine Donahue, a partner at Macrae, described the massive uptick in applicants, noting that every recruiter and firm is struggling to keep up with demand.
While the sheer number of candidates offers advantages for law firms, firms face a dilemma in managing recruitment for these highly qualified but often business-development-new professionals. Stephen Springer, managing partner at Major Lindsey & Africa’s D.C. office, acknowledged the surge, but pointed out that the needs for lawyers without books of business are limited. Many firms, however, are targeting specific areas of practice to address their strategic hiring needs, such as healthcare, white-collar crime, and privacy work.
“Supply is already outweighing demand,” Donahue said, underscoring the challenge of finding the right match between talent and the firms’ actual hiring needs.
Despite these challenges, many D.C. firms have made strategic acquisitions, such as McGuireWoods adding four Washington-based partners and Latham & Watkins securing Scott Cockerham as the U.S. co-head of A&O Shearman’s energy practice.
With approximately 48,000 attorneys in Washington, D.C., only New York has a larger legal workforce in the United States, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. While D.C. law firms continue to look for top-tier candidates, the overwhelming supply of applicants may prompt firms to take a more cautious approach as they sift through the candidates to ensure they make informed, long-term hiring decisions.
