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After the debt bubble burst a dozen years ago, a cascade of business failures turned bankruptcy practices into a bright spot—and set off a rush for talent—among law firms grappling with the Great Recession.

But firms don't want to be playing catch-up when the next major recession hits.

Data on partner moves, combined with interviews with lawyers, recruiters and consultants, show that firms have been remarkably proactive in building up their bankruptcy practices over the last three years, energizing the lateral market long before the arrival of the anticipated downturn. With two months still remaining in 2019, the year has already ushered in more lateral moves than in both 2017 and 2018.

Every law firm that legal recruiting firm Major, Lindsey & Africa has visited has cited growing its bankruptcy practice as a top priority, according to founder Jon Lindsey. He said lateral movement in the practice area will likely reach its peak in the next year, but that the timing has been different than in recessions past.

"The demand for restructuring and bankruptcy partners is as dynamic as it's been in the last 25 years," he said. "Firms in the past waited until a wave hit to look for a lifeboat. Now, the sense that they need to have people in place before the storm hits is much more acute."

More than a decade after the last recession, threats to the economy's health are slowly becoming apparent as more indicators point to an imminent slowdown. But unlike the sudden worldwide financial crisis of the last decade, the slow plod toward the next recession has allowed law firms to be more deliberative in building out their bankruptcy and restructuring practices.

Lindsey emphasized that the U.S. is not in a recession right now, but in light of global economic concerns, trade disputes with China and other factors, "it's coming—and there's a lot of work to be done."

For firms that have maintained strong restructuring practices, the benefits aren't hard to see. Recent bankruptcy matters involving Sears, Pacific Gas & Electric, Toys R Us and other struggling industry leaders have generated staggering fees for Kirkland & Ellis, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, Cravath, Swaine & Moore, Jenner & Block and other firms.

Others are taking note, and are using the current pre-slowdown lull to deepen their benches.

From Jan. 1, 2019, through the end of October, there have already been 533 lateral moves involving bankruptcy and restructuring attorneys, according to ALM Intelligence data tracking U.S.-based partners, associates and of counsels joining Am Law 200 firms. This is compared to 413 moves in 2018 and 364 in 2017.

Although lateral hires across practices areas increased from 2017 to 2018, overall lateral activity has slowed in 2019 as bankruptcy moves have boomed, the ALM Intelligence figures show.

Firms are keen to snap up attorneys with valuable industry relationships that can lead to windfall cases in the financially difficult years to come, said Ross Weil of Walker Associates.

"Relationships are coveted by firms, and corporate clients are really key," he said. Weil added he has also noticed increased competition for coveted laterals, a trend he sees continuing for the next year to year and a half. Most firms are still touting record profits from a period of sustained economic prosperity, giving them greater means to entice lateral hires and integrate them into a firm well in advance of a busy season.

Lately, firm leadership has been transparent about how fears of a recession have upped appetites for more bankruptcy attorneys. The head of McDermott Will & Emery's restructuring and insolvency group said he thinks an economic downturn is already beginning—which is why the firm has added six partners to its practice recently, including two notable hires from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and King & Spalding.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in October also fortified its bankruptcy group with three creditor-side attorneys hired away from Jones Day, one of whom was co-head of Jones Day's business restructuring and reorganization practice and will co-lead the bankruptcy team at Gibson Dunn. The news came just days after Jones Day's other restructuring group co-chair departed for Debevoise & Plimpton.

Other recent bankruptcy lateral moves include Cristine Pirro Schwarzman, who jumped from Kirkland & Ellis to Ropes & Gray; three attorneys, including a new restructuring practice head, who moved to Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; and a former Kirkland partner now at Mayer Brown.

Jon Truster, co-head of lateral partner placement at Greene Levin Snyder, pointed out that as the brick-and-mortar retail economy continues to suffer, there will be more work across that sector—and not just on the debtor side—opening doors for firms that are not Big Law stalwarts.

"Large, debtor-side practices are able to throw a massive amount of resources [at a client] all at once, and you have to have a huge practice to do that at a big firm," he said, adding that this is only one slice of bankruptcy work. By improving offerings to creditors and other stakeholders, he said that many firms can still build out a successful restructuring practice.

Consultant Mary K Young of Zeughauser Group added that firms don't have to silo new hires to restructuring if a major matter has yet to materialize. In different periods of the economic cycle, the right hires will ideally lend their expertise to other practice areas, which, in turn, can make their restructuring practice even stronger.

"[Restructuring] is a countercyclical practice, and some firms have had success in the ability to flex between corporate and restructuring," she said. "A significant bankruptcy practice can be slow when business are expanding, and firms that are forward-thinking are trying to find synergy between practices areas for the clients' sake."

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