(Reuters) - Lateral partner movement over the first three quarters is projected to drop this year in nearly every major U.S. market compared to last year, according to data compiled by a competitive intelligence firm.

San Francisco is the only major U.S. market that is projected to see more lateral partners during the first three quarters of 2020, data collected and analyzed by Decipher shows.

In 2019, the city saw 102 partners switch firms between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30; in 2020, 114 moves are projected.

The data signals how competitive San Francisco remains as a market - and how coveted tech clients are by law firms - during a pandemic that has hit the legal industry hard, said Michael Ellenhorn, Decipher's founder and CEO.

Law firms hire Ellenhorn's company to research lateral partner candidates before they're hired.

Projections for lateral partner moves in Dallas and Philadelphia are down slightly, according to Decipher's data - the firm counted 104 moves in Dallas and 74 moves in Philadelphia in Q1-Q3 2019. This year, the firm is projecting 94 moves in Dallas and 70 moves in Philly by Sept. 30.

It's in other major markets - New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Houston and Miami - where the biggest drops are projected. Comparing the first three quarters of 2019 to 2020, lateral partner moves in Miami are projected to drop 16%; in Houston, 25%; in New York, 28%; in Los Angeles and Chicago, 32%; in Washington, 40%; and in Boston, 52%.

The numbers suggest that partners are staying put at their current firms, and that firms are not pouring money into lateral partner acquisitions, which are expensive, at a time when money may be scarce, Ellenhorn said.

"There's still a fair amount of movement out there. It's not like it fell off a cliff," Ellenhorn said. "Firms that are relying on growth to accomplish their strategic objectives, they're still looking for opportunities."

Decipher's lateral movement data came from the 350 largest firms in the U.S. by head count, Ellenhorn said.

Ellenhorn said these numbers are just one data point about the health of these legal markets, and he emphasized that they are projections. Because the third quarter of 2020 hasn't ended, the firm estimated its Q3 numbers by simply doubling the number of moves that had occurred by mid-August.

Partner moves are also dictated by circumstances like the market and practice area they're in, as well as the conditions at their firm, Ellenhorn said.

"But the numbers are pretty clear," he added.