When Major, Lindsey & Africa surveyed around 300 Big Law associates about what their law firms were doing to retain them and what firms could do better, the national recruiting firm found indicators of associate discontent that didn’t quite match the market-induced slowdown in lateral movement for deal-focused lawyers.

One in four respondents said they planned to leave their firms within the year, while three out of five associates felt their firms weren’t actively trying to retain them, according to a report on the results of the survey released Tuesday.