Adapting to COVID was a time. Now that the smoke and lawyer cat videos have cleared, there have been two competing takes on what the “new normal” will mean for the industry. The first is the “fall in line or else” approach usually expected of Biglaw. Sure, working from your living room was nice and all, but the office is calling. So return. Or else. But not all firms are using the adapt with vinegar approach. A couple are realizing that honey — acknowledging that much of the work doesn’t require team members to meet in person and trusting in their capabilities — not only attracts worker bees, it attracts a swarm of ‘em.

When Paul Hastings recruited a 43-lawyer restructuring team from Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, chair Frank Lopez called it “one of those unicorn situations that happens once in a decade in the legal market.” Yet in post-pandemic hindsight, the Am Law 50 firm’s eye-catching acquisition appears to have been at the front end of a wave of ever-growing group departures involving professionals in different cities.

Less than one year later, a 44-person cybersecurity team from Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith roughly matched the Stroock departure by relocating to Constangy Brooks Smith & Prophete in 17 different cities. And within the last month, 130 lawyers have defected from Lewis Brisbois to a nationwide startup created by former labor and employment leaders.

Smaller group moves have also transpired with professionals based in multiple locations....

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