Wake Up Call: Do Gen Z Lawyers Move Firms Too Much? Likely Not.

Welcome to Bloomberg Law’s Wake Up Call, a daily rundown of the top news for lawyers, law firms, and in-house counsel.

• Despite stereotypes that Gen Z lawyers are more likely to job hop, new data suggests junior associates from the younger generation are actually staying at law firms longer than their millennial predecessors. About 62% of entry-level associates hired between 2020 and late 2025 remained at their original firm for at least three years, compared with 52% of those hired between 2015 and 2020, according to SurePoint Legal Insights. (Law.com)
• Linklaters’ staff costs jumped by £115 million in 2024–25, rising 11% to £1.18 billion, driven largely by higher salaries and bonuses despite a broadly flat headcount. Salary-related costs, including bonuses, climbed as the firm raised pay across the board, including lifting newly-qualified solicitor salaries to £150,000 and boosting trainee pay. (FN London)
• A breakdown in federal funding for court-appointed defense attorneys is leading judges in California to delay or dismiss criminal cases, after ruling that months-long gaps in payments violated defendants’ Sixth Amendment right to effective counsel. The disruptions, triggered by payment system problems, the capped funding, and the government shutdown left lawyers unable to hire investigators, experts or support staff, even as prosecutors remained fully funded. (The Sacramento Bee)