Steven Bunnell, outgoing general counsel of the Department of Homeland Security, is rejoining the Washington, D.C. office of O’Melveny & Myers. Similar scenarios are playing out for other government lawyers. Some of the prominent placements from the government include:

• John Carlin, former assistant AG for the Justice Department’s National Security Division, is joining Morrison & Foerster;
• Beth Brinkman, former deputy assistant AG in the Justice Department’s Civil Division, is joining Covington & Burling;
• Jeh Johnson, former Secretary of Homeland Security, is rejoining Paul, Weiss.

And who’s still in transit?

• Mary Jo White, outgoing chair of the SEC, is a former Debevoise & Plimpton partner;
• Leslie Caldwell, former assistant AG for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, is a former Morgan Lewis & Bockius partner;
• Sally Yates, former Deputy Attorney General, who spent nearly her entire law career in government practice before being fired by Trump for refusing to defend his immigration order.

Other lawyers in transition include:

• Loretta Lynch, outgoing U.S. Attorney General, is a former partner at Hogan & Hartson (the firm that merged to become Hogan Lovells) between 2001 and 2010; and,
• William Baer, departing assistant AG of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division , is a former Arnold & Porter partner.

What's different this year is that top lawyers who had been entrenched in government workplace for the past 8 years suddenly and urgently needed to find another job, in a saturated market where others were looking, too.

Job or no job, one thing is certain - they'll all need to decompress.