Lateral market intelligence

Market-wide reports

• 12.9% of Lateral Moves Bring a Higher Title, From Funds to Family

  One lateral move in eight (12.9%) brings a higher title. The step-up rate runs from 11.4% in funds to 16.8% in construction and 20.5% in family law, and from 8.4% in Chicago to 20.8% in Minneapolis.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Aerospace and Defense Deals Outpaced Capital Markets Work in 2026

  Aerospace and defense deals rose 50.7% year on year against 10.0% for capital markets deals, and capital markets lawyers sit on 36.5% of the sector's work. Lateral hiring in the practice held flat (+6.7%).

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Aircraft Finance Counsel in 2026: The Movers Are Banking Lawyers

  Capital markets lawyers work on 38.1% of aviation deals, more than any other practice. The aviation lawyers who changed firms are another bench: banking and finance lawyers at an index of 403 and London lawyers at 352, where the market's own share scores a hundred.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Asset Manager Finance Counsel in 2026: Three Firms Sit on Both Lists

  Only three firms appear on both the asset manager and the banking and finance adviser lists. The sector list opens with Dechert a band clear of the rest, the finance list with three firms sharing the 151-250 band.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Asset Manager Fund Counsel in 2026: One Firm Alone in the Top Band

  Asset managers buy their deal counsel from a short list. Dechert sits a band above every other adviser on the sector's list, two firms share the top band of the funds practice's list, and 27.0% of the sector's deals were handled with lawyers in Washington, 2.0 times the share for bank deals.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Asset Manager M&A Counsel in 2026: A Rare Client for the M&A Bench

  The pair runs below the market both ways. Corporate and M&A lawyers worked on 14.8% of asset manager deals over 12 months, against 23.3% of all dated deals, and asset managers were 3.1% of the M&A practice's deals, against 4.9% of all dated deals.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Associate to Partner Timeline by Practice: Deal Lawyers Go First

  Deal practices promote a year sooner than the market's 10.0 years, immigration and family lawyers wait longer, and restructuring names only 0.47 partners from within for each lateral partner it hires.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Automotive IP Counsel in 2026: Litigators Lead a 28.1% Rise in Moves

  Lawyers who focus on the automotive sector and changed firms rose 28.1% in a year, and they are litigators first: product liability lawyers are on 34.2% of those moves, at an index of 502 against the market. Lateral hiring of IP lawyers held flat (+7.2%), while IP lawyers sit on 13.0% of automotive deals.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Automotive M&A Counsel in 2026: Clients Come Back More Often

  Automotive clients averaged 2.4 deals each over 12 months, against 1.8 across corporate and M&A, and corporate lawyers worked on 28.0% of the sector's deals. Capital markets lawyers sit on slightly more.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Bank Finance Counsel in 2026: Movers Over-Index in Charlotte, Milan

  Banks are the banking and finance bench's largest client sector, on 17.8% of its deals. The bank-focused lawyers who change firms are mostly banking lawyers, 67.0% of them, and they join firms in Charlotte and Milan far above the market rate.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Bank Litigation Counsel in 2026: A Flatter Firm Field Than Bank Deals

  The firms on the most litigation matters sit one band step apart from first place to tenth; the firms on the most bank deals spread across three bands. Only Jones Day appears on both lists.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Bank M&A Counsel in 2026: Bank Deals Carry 2.1 Times the M&A Median

  Disclosed bank deals carry a median of $660 million, 2.1 times the corporate and M&A practice's $315 million. That median spans the sector's whole deal book, where capital markets lawyers sit on 51.0% of deals and M&A lawyers on 13.1%.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Bank Project Finance Counsel in 2026: Projects Outpaced Bank Work

  The projects practice that banks hire rose 26.2% in deal count on settled 12-month windows, against 7.2% growth in bank deals. Banks sit on 10.2% of the practice's deals, so the team a bank calls for a financing got busier faster than the bank's own deal flow.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Bank Regulatory Counsel in 2026: Leans on Banks, Rare on Bank Deals

  Banks and financial institutions are on 51.5% of the financial services regulatory practice's deals, just over half. From the bank's side the same deals are only 3.6% of its deal work: a practice that leans on banks is a small part of what banks hire lawyers for.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Banking Partner Track by US City: Chicago Runs Fast, DC Runs Slow

  Chicago finance lawyers made partner within 12 years 89.2% of the time, against 59.5% in Washington, DC and 73.6% in New York. For banking associates, the city sets how long the wait can run.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Big Law Hiring Outside New York: Houston, Nashville, Miami, London

  The busiest big-firm hirers place most of their lateral intake outside New York. Houston, Nashville, Miami and London weigh far more in their hiring than in the market as a whole.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Biggest Lateral Hirers, 3 Years vs 12 Months: Eight of Ten Stay

  Eight firms sit in the top 10 of lateral hirers over both 3 years and 12 months. The four that traded places at the edge of the list hire in the same band as their neighbors, so the turnover is decided on a narrow margin.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Biggest Lateral Hiring Law Firms 2026: One Profile, One Outlier

  The ten firms that hired the most lateral lawyers share a size class, a junior tilt and a big-firm supply line. One litigation firm builds from smaller firms instead.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Capital Markets Deals in 2026: Two Firms Hold a Band of Their Own

  Capital markets is the most concentrated deal type at the top: its two most active advisers sit in the 701-1200 band, which no firm reaches in any other type. The work rose 10.0% while lateral partner hiring in the practice held flat (+1.1%).

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Chemical Company Capital Markets Counsel in 2026: Frankfurt Matters

  Chemicals deal work leans toward Europe: Frankfurt lawyers worked on 12.1% of the sector's deals and London lawyers on 18.3%. Capital markets is the sector's first practice, on 37.6% of its deals.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Chemical Industry M&A Counsel in 2026: Sector Outpaces the Practice

  The chemicals deal count rose 33.7% year on year, 3.5 times the pace of corporate and M&A deal work, whose count rose 9.5%. Corporate lawyers worked on 33.7% of the sector's deals, a close second to capital markets lawyers.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Cities Gaining Lawyers From Other Cities: Los Angeles and Miami Lead

  Counted as arrivals from other cities against departures to them, Los Angeles gained 30 lawyers net in 12 months and Miami 29. New York, San Francisco, Dallas, Houston and Boston sent out more than they took in.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Companies Hiring Lawyers From Law Firms in 2026: Harvey Hired Most

  Harvey hired the most lawyers out of law firms between May and October 2026, ahead of Amazon. The eight busiest employers mix sellers of legal technology, large technology platforms, a bank and a carmaker, and technology lawyers make the move at 30.3 per hundred lateral moves.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Compliance Counsel From Law Firms: Investigators Move, Regulators Stay

  Investigations lawyers leave law firms for companies at 2.1 times the rate of regulatory and compliance lawyers. Regulatory benches lean to partners and firms are adding financial services regulatory partners, so the compliance hire that lands most easily is an investigator.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Consumer and Retail M&A Counsel in 2026: Flat Sector, Busier Bench

  Consumer goods and retail deals held flat (-2.1%) year on year, while corporate and M&A deals rose 9.5% and M&A partner moves between firms rose 12.2%. Corporate lawyers sit on 23.4% of the sector's deals, so consumer companies buy M&A advice from a practice that got busier while their own sector did not.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Consumer Brands' IP Counsel in 2026: Disputes Are 95.3% of IP Deals

  Consumer goods and retail is the client sector on 8.8% of intellectual property deals, first of the twelve sectors listed, and IP lawyers sit on 31.9% of the sector's deals. The work is contested: disputes and investigations were the type on 95.3% of IP deals and 42.4% of consumer goods deals.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Corporate Benches Lose 20.1 Lawyers to Companies per Hundred Laterals

  Corporate & M&A sends 20.1 lawyers to companies for every hundred lateral moves, against 12.3 in litigation, and associates are 76.7% of all such departures. A firm that trains corporate associates has to plan on buying part of each class back in the lateral market.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Corporate Partner Track: Los Angeles and San Francisco Beat New York

  Corporate lawyers in Los Angeles and San Francisco made partner within 8 years 31.8% and 31.1% of the time, against 25.4% in New York, the largest corporate bench. On the coasts' second markets the deal clock runs faster, and Chicago runs faster still.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Counsel Hiring by Practice and City: Pensions 19.8%, Corporate 11.3%

  Counsel made 19.8% of lateral moves in pensions and benefits and 19.5% in environment, against 11.3% in corporate and 12.7% across the market. By city the share ran from 23.8% in Cleveland to 8.6% in Nashville: the counsel title travels unevenly.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Counsel Promotion Calendar 2026: Midyear Belongs to Counsel

  Firms name more counsel than partners at midyear (204 against 135 in July 2025) and almost no counsel in the October partner round. For a firm hiring at counsel level, the summer is the date that matters.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Crypto Capital Markets Counsel in 2026: New York on 58.0% of Deals

  Crypto deal work runs through one city: New York lawyers were on 58.0% of the sector's deals, 14.4 points above fintech. Capital markets lawyers sat on 37.7% of them, ahead of corporate and financial services regulatory lawyers.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Deal Flow vs Lateral Hiring by Practice: Where They Part in 2026

  Market-wide, deals and lateral moves grew at similar rates. Inside practices they part: the projects deal count rose 26.2% while projects hiring held flat (+1.3%), and funds hiring rose 23.7% on a deal count that held flat (+2.8%).

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Deal Leaders vs Lateral Hiring Leaders 2026: Five Firms on Both Lists

  Five of the ten firms with the most deals also rank among the ten busiest lateral hirers. The second-busiest deal firm hires in the 51-100 group, and three of the busiest hirers carry no top-10 deal count.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Deal Types vs Lateral Hiring 2026: Corporate Hiring Outran M&A

  M&A deals rose 8.9% while corporate and M&A lateral hiring rose 15.8%. In none of the four deal types here did hiring move in step with the deal count, and in restructuring the two moved in opposite directions.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Deals Outside the Standard Types: Pharma Clients, IP Lawyers

  Deals that fit no standard type are a small, steady corner of the record, and 50.2% of them had a pharma or biotech client, against 6.8% of all deals. Intellectual property and commercial contracts lawyers, not corporate lawyers, worked them.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Disputes on Record Rose in 2026. Partner Hiring Did Not Follow

  Disputes and investigations grew faster than M&A and capital markets, yet the two practices that do much of the work did not add partners: litigation partner hiring held flat (+0.9%) and intellectual property held flat (+8.0%). Read the type as matters on record, heavy in intellectual property filings.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Do Law Firms Hire Where They Do Deals? Capital Markets Says No

  The firms that advise the most deals run much of that work through capital markets, yet hire laterals mainly into banking and finance, corporate work and private equity. At the firm second by deals, capital markets is about 70% of deals and about 20% of lateral hires.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Employment Law Partner Track by City 2026: Dallas Fast, Boston Slow

  Employment lawyers in Dallas made partner within 12 years 92.0% of the time, against 58.1% in Boston, and in Los Angeles, the largest employment bench, only 9.5% made it within 8 years: the practice's slow clock is a coastal one.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Environment Lawyers Go In-House; Firms Chase Projects Partners

  Environment lawyers move to companies at 1.6 times the all-practice rate, and law firms are not bidding up their partners. Projects lawyers also go in-house readily, but firms hired projects partners at a faster pace: partner hiring in the practice held flat (+16.5%).

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Fastest Legal Specialities to Make Partner: The Deal-Side Track

  The quickest route to partnership runs through deal work. Growth and minority investment lawyers were named within 8 years 37.4% of the time against 23.2% market-wide, and buyouts and private M&A share a median of 9.0 years.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Fastest-Growing Law Firms 2026: Five Also Top Net Partner Gains

  Of the ten firms with the largest net lateral gain at all levels, five also rank in the top 10 by net partner gain. Three of the other five grew mainly through associates, who made up 70% of hires at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe against 58.5% market-wide.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Few Private Equity Lawyers Go In-House as Firms Bid for Partners

  From May to October 2026, private equity lawyers left firms for companies at 11.4 per hundred lateral moves, against 13.1 overall and 20.1 in corporate work. Lateral hiring of private equity partners rose 16.1% and sponsor deals rose 8.9%: a sponsor or portfolio company hiring a deal lawyer competes with firms paying for the same people.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Finance Lawyers Moving In-House: Capital Markets Most, Insurance Least

  Banking and finance sent 125 lawyers from firms to companies, 13.1% of all such moves. Capital markets lawyers go in-house most readily, restructuring and insurance lawyers least, and funds lawyers face firms whose hiring rose 23.7%.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Fintech Capital Raising Counsel in 2026: Venture at 4.4 Times the Norm

  Fintech companies raise money privately as well as publicly: venture and growth deals are 16.6% of the sector's deals, 4.4 times their share of all dated deals. Capital markets lawyers sit on 23.7% of fintech deals, second only to corporate lawyers.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Fintech M&A Counsel in 2026: Corporate Lawyers on 45.4% of Deals

  Corporate and M&A lawyers sat on 45.4% of fintech and payments deals in the 12 months to October 2026, 1.9 times the 23.3% they reached across all dated deals. M&A was the sector's largest deal type, at 29.4%.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Food and Beverage IP Work in 2026: The Sector Held, IP Matters Rose

  Food, beverage and agriculture deals held flat (-1.5%) year on year, while intellectual property matters on record rose 20.9%. IP lawyers sit on 29.5% of the sector's deals, so food companies draw on a practice whose caseload grew in a year their own sector stood still.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Fund Counsel for Sponsors in 2026: The Work Leans on London

  Sponsors and asset managers are the funds practice's two client sectors, and their deals do not lean on the same cities. 29.5% of sponsor deals were handled with lawyers in London, 1.6 times the share for asset manager deals, and sponsor deal volume rose 8.9% while funds practice volume held flat (+2.8%).

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Fund Formation Work Rose in 2026: Ahead of a Flat Funds Practice

  Dated fund formations rose 23.0% year on year while the funds practice's whole deal record held flat (+2.8%), so the formation side is where the practice's work grew. Lateral partner hiring in funds rose 29.7% alongside it.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Half of Banks' Deal Work Is Capital Markets: 1.9 Times the Market

  For a bank, outside counsel is first a capital markets question: the practice touched 51.0% of the sector's deals, 1.9 times its share of all deals. Banks are also the practice's largest client sector, level with pharma and biotech.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Health Care Lawyers Leave Firms for Companies Above the Market Rate

  Between May and October 2026, health care lawyers moved to companies at 18.4 for every hundred lateral moves, against 13.1 in the whole market. Health care lateral hiring rose 14.5% and pharma and biotech deals rose 14.5%, so a company hiring health counsel bids against firms that are adding the same lawyers.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Healthcare Provider Counsel in 2026: Nashville Works on 12.4% of Deals

  Nashville sits behind only New York, Washington and Chicago on hospital and health plan deal work. The health care practice does 71.7% of its deals for providers, yet sits on 16.7% of the sector's deals.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Hiring an In-House Employment Lawyer: Many Associates, Few Partners

  Employment lawyers leave law firms for companies at 12.9 per hundred lateral moves, close to the market's 13.1. Their bench is 61.6% associates and 22.4% partners, so the associate hire is within reach and the senior hire is the hard one.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Home-Market Firms vs National Platforms: Who Tops City Hiring

  In Charlotte, Cleveland and Atlanta the most active lateral hirer is a firm whose hires land mostly in that city. In New York, Houston and Nashville the same national platform heads the list, and each city is a slice of its hiring.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Hospital System Capital Markets Counsel in 2026: Only 12.0% of Deals

  Capital markets is a minor bench for hospital systems and payors: its lawyers sit on 12.0% of the sector's deals, under half its 26.4% share of all dated deals, and the sector's median disclosed deal of $250 million is less than half the practice's $563.2 million.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Hospitality M&A Counsel in 2026: The Work Fell, the Bench Did Not

  Hospitality and leisure deal work fell 8.6% year on year while corporate and M&A deal work rose 9.5%. Corporate lawyers still sit on 30.7% of the sector's deals, more than any other practice.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Hotel Brand IP Counsel in 2026: IP Appears 1.5 Times as Often as Usual

  Intellectual property lawyers sit on 17.0% of hospitality and leisure deals, 1.5 times their rate across all dated deals. Disputes and investigations, at 29.1%, are the sector's first deal type.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Hotel Company Capital Markets Counsel in 2026: Less Work, Same Bench

  Hospitality and leisure deal work fell 8.6% year on year, while lateral hiring in capital markets held flat (+6.7%) and partner hiring in the practice held flat (+1.1%). A smaller sector now meets an unchanged bench, and capital markets lawyers work on 17.8% of the sector's deals.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• How Long to Make Partner in 2026: The City Matters More Than Size

  The median time to partner has held at 10.0 years since 2022, but the average has drifted later, the city shifts the answer by years even within one country, and firms hire 1.3 times as many partners from outside as they promote.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• How Long to Make Partner in New York? Tax Sets the Slowest Clock

  New York's practices run on clocks far apart: 63.6% of tax partners made it within 12 years, against 73.2% for the city. The practice an associate joins decides the wait more than the city does.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• How to Choose Outside Counsel in 2026: Start With the Matter Type

  1,134 law firms advised on dated deals in the past 12 months, and the most active advisers change with the matter type. Choose by the work and your industry, not by the size of the firm.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• How to Hire In-House Counsel: 76.7% of Movers Are Associates

  Three in four lawyers who leave a law firm for a company are associates (76.7%), and firms of 1,000+ lawyers supply 59.3% of them, more than that class takes of lateral moves. Source by level, firm size and city in that order.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• In-House Hires From Law Firms: 59.3% Left Firms of 1,000+ Lawyers

  Between May and October 2026, 772 companies hired 953 lawyers straight from law firms. Most came from the largest firms, most were associates, and corporate lawyers made up 33.2% of these moves against 20.7% of moves between firms.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• In-House Hiring by Month: Companies Hire on the Law-Firm Calendar

  Companies hire lawyers out of law firms in the same months firms hire from each other: June (188) and September (187) led both counts in 2026, and the in-house share of lateral moves held steady from June.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Industrial M&A Counsel in 2026: Seven Firms Share the Top Band

  Seven of the ten firms most active on industrial manufacturing deals sit in the 21-40 band of deals advised and the other three one band lower, while the corporate and M&A list opens with three firms at 401-700. Five firms appear on both lists.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Infrastructure Capital Markets Counsel in 2026: Capital Markets First

  Infrastructure owners bring in capital markets counsel more often than any other bench: capital markets lawyers sat on 30.1% of the sector's deals, against 22.1% for corporate and M&A, 18.5% for banking and finance and 15.0% for projects and infrastructure.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Infrastructure Finance Counsel in 2026: A $850 Million Median Ticket

  Disclosed infrastructure deals carry a median of $850 million, 1.6 times the $545 million of banking and finance work, and finance lawyers sit on 18.5% of the sector's deals, 2.9 times their share of all dated deals.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Infrastructure M&A Counsel in 2026: Partners Do the Moving

  The infrastructure bench that changes firms is senior: partners made up 61.0% of those moves, against 29.9% across corporate and M&A. Corporate lawyers sit on 22.1% of the sector's deals, which have grown much faster than that bench.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Inside Tax, the Speciality Sets the Clock to Partner

  Tax as a practice promotes at the market's pace, but its specialities do not: international tax lawyers were named within 8 years 37.2% of the time and corporate tax lawyers 28.7%, while only 60.2% of tax-exempt specialists were named within 12 years.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Insurance M&A Counsel in 2026: Two Top-10 Lists, One Shared Firm

  The firms with the most insurance deals and the firms with the most corporate and M&A deals share one name across two top-10 lists. Corporate lawyers worked on 25.2% of insurance deals, the third bench behind insurance specialists and capital markets.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Insurer Capital Markets Counsel in 2026: The Specialist Barely Leads

  Insurers give their deal work almost equally to the sector specialist and the generalist: insurance and reinsurance lawyers sit on 29.9% of the sector's deals, capital markets lawyers on 27.1%. The specialist leads by only 2.8 points.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Insurer Counsel in 2026: Four Firms on Both Insurance Deal Lists

  Rank firms by all insurer deals, then by insurance and reinsurance practice deals in every sector, and the same four names appear on both lists. The practice depends on insurers far more than insurers depend on it, and its matters rose while the sector's deals held flat.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• IP Partner Track by US City: Boston Runs Fastest, New York Slowest

  Among IP partners promoted over 5 years, 42.3% in Boston got there within 8 years, against 16.5% in New York. The quick clocks run in mid-sized benches such as Boston, Dallas and Chicago, not in the two largest.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Largest Law Firms and Lateral Hiring in 2026: Size Wins, Not Names

  The biggest size class takes 53.6% of all lateral moves, but no small group of firms controls the market: the ten busiest hirers take 12.9%, spread across 1,291 firms that hired.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Lateral Counsel Hiring in 2026: Defense and Employment Firms Lead

  Counsel are 12.7% of lateral moves market-wide. At five large firms they are about 25% to 30% of lateral hires, and the practices behind those firms, insurance and employment, carry counsel shares above the market.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Lateral Hiring 2026 Year to Date: Up 10.1%, Built From April

  The 2026 year to date ran level with 2025 through March and only pulled ahead from April. By September lateral moves were up 10.1%, a gain made in the spring and summer.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Lateral Hiring by City: New York Has the Volume, Houston the Growth

  New York and London still take the most lateral hires, 14.8% and 9.2% of all moves. The growth sits in Houston, Miami and San Francisco, while London was flat and Paris fell 20.5%.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Lateral Hiring by Month: January Peaks, December Goes Quiet

  Lateral moves follow a fixed calendar: January is the peak, December the trough, and September a second window carried by associates. January 2026 counted 1,560 moves, 2.4 times December 2025.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Lateral Hiring Concentration by City: Nashville's Top 10 Take 73.3%

  In Nashville, Toronto and Charlotte the top 10 hiring firms took 73.3%, 62.0% and 54.5% of individual lateral hires, against 21.5% in New York and 12.9% market-wide. Where few firms hire, a candidate's realistic options are few, and so are a hiring firm's rivals.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Lateral Hiring Over 3 Years: 1,886 Firms, Only 1,291 in 12 Months

  Over three years 1,886 law firms made at least one lateral hire, but only 68.5% of them also hired in the latest 12 months. The longer window lowers the top 10 share, trims the partner weight and shows firms under 150 lawyers supplying more lateral talent, against what they take back, than any other size class.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Lateral Level Mix by Practice: Regulatory Teams Hire Partners

  Partners make up 47.9% of lateral moves in financial services regulatory and 42.5% in regulatory and compliance, against 27.7% market-wide. Employment runs the other way, with associates at 61.6%: the level mix of a practice decides what kind of search it needs.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Lateral Moves Rose in the Third Quarter of 2026, Carried by Summer

  July to September 2026 counted 3,789 lateral moves against 3,427 a year earlier. July and August carried the gain, September fell short of an unusually heavy September 2025, and partner moves rose with the market.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Lateral Partner Hirers vs Volume Hirers in 2026: Mix Decides the List

  Eight firms sit on both top 10 lists. The other places go to firms whose hires lean on associates or on partners: the level mix, not size, decides which list a firm reaches.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Lateral Partner Meaning: Partner Moves Tilt Toward Private Equity

  A lateral partner is a partner hired from another firm. Partner moves rose 8.4% year on year, in line with the market, and their practice mix tilts toward private equity and restructuring, not litigation.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Law Firm Attrition Rate 2026: 13.2% of Lawyers Leave Each Year

  A typical law firm loses about one lawyer in eight each year, a median leaving rate of 13.2%. The largest firms lose the most, and 86.1% of leavers go to another firm, not to a company.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Law Firm Attrition Rate by Size: Firms of 1,000+ Lawyers Lose 14.8%

  Across 525 firms, the median leaving rate is 13.2% a year. The largest firms lose the most, 14.8%, and firms of 150-399 lawyers the least, 11.9%.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Law Firm Attrition: Above 18.7% Is High for the Largest Firms

  Sartori & Partners data put the typical yearly leaving rate at 13.2%, with a middle band of 10.2% to 16.6%. Each size class draws its own line for high, and among the busiest hirers a high rate often sits beside partner gains.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Law Firm Award Season: Ranking News Peaks in June and August

  Ranking and award news runs in a season: 1,705 items in June 2026 and 1,665 in August, against 850 in January. Hire and client-work news holds its usual pace in those months and disappears under the volume.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Law Firm Client Work Announcements Rise While Case Wins Stay Flat

  Client-work announcements rose 7.4% to 3,631 in 12 months while case-win announcements held flat (-0.7%) at 1,107, and dated deals rose 10.6%. Firms publicize transactions far more than wins: about one client-work announcement for every 13.3 dated deals.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Law Firm Counsel Hiring 2026: Counsel Now 55.1% of Partner Classes

  Firms named counsel at 46.8% of the partner class in 2022 and 55.1% in 2025, and counsel now make 12.7% of lateral moves. Counsel has become a level of its own, with a lateral market and an in-house exit to match.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Law Firm Hierarchy in 2026: Who Changes Firms, and Who Moves Up

  The lateral market has the same shape as the firm itself: associates make up 58.5% of movers, partners 27.7%, and only 12.9% of lawyers win a higher title by moving.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Law Firm Hire News vs Partner Moves: January Gap, Autumn Match

  Over 12 months, hire news equaled 93.5% of lateral partner moves. In January partners change firms faster than firms announce them; from July to December the announcements catch up and often pass the partner count.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Law Firm Job Postings vs Lateral Hires: The West Posts, London Hires

  Career pages put the weight of demand in San Francisco, Boston and the western US. Lateral moves put it in New York and London, where London firms fill 3.2 seats for each opening they advertise.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Law Firm Lateral Hiring 2026: Up 9.0%, Well Clear of the 2023 Dip

  Lateral moves rose 9.0% on the settled year, to 14,305. Against five years of history, 2023 was the dip, 2024 climbed back above 2022, 2025 was the largest full year, and the latest 12 months sit above every full year.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Law Firm Leadership Changes Cluster in January: 2026 Data

  January 2026 brought 115 leadership announcements, 17.1% of the 12-month total, against 30 in August. The same month carries the partner classes and the year's high in lateral partner moves.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Law Firm Office Openings in 2026 Held Flat as Lateral Hiring Rose

  Firms announced 123 office openings in the 12 months to October 2026, while lateral moves rose 9.0%. The rise in lateral hiring came without a matching rise in new offices.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Law Firm Open Roles by Practice: Torts Advertise, Restructuring Hires

  Product liability, technology and pensions list more openings on one day than they record lateral hires in a year. Restructuring and litigation record 4.7 and 4.6 lateral hires in 12 months for each opening listed on the data date.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Law Firm Team Moves Come in Bursts: 6 of 32 in One Quarter

  Announced team moves do not arrive as a steady flow. One quarter, the second of 2025, held 6 of the 32 on record, while every other quarter held 3 or fewer.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Law Firms by Size: The Ends Buy Partners, the Middle Makes Them

  Firms of 1,000+ lawyers and firms under 150 lawyers take a larger share of lateral hires than of new partners, while firms of 400-999 lawyers make 29.5% of new partners on 23.4% of hires. One benchmark line per size class: hiring, promotion, supply and turnover.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Law Firms Promoted 0.79 Partners per Lateral Partner Hired

  Firms promoted 2,955 lawyers to partner and hired 3,749 lateral partners over the same 12 months, close to the 2025 ratio of 0.8. Among the larger practices, restructuring makes the fewest of its own partners and employment the most.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Law Firms That Promote and Hire Partners: Only Three Do Both

  Only Kirkland & Ellis, DLA Piper and Dentons rank in the top 10 both for partners promoted and for lateral partners hired. The other names on each list lean toward buying partners or toward making them.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Lawyer Moves Between City Pairs: The Busiest Route Runs Both Ways

  New York and Washington exchange more lawyers than any other pair we measured, 54 one way and 48 the other. San Francisco to Los Angeles, New York to Los Angeles and New York to Miami all lean one way.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Lawyers Changing City: 20.5% of Lateral Moves Cross a City Line

  Most lateral moves stay in one city, and New York draws only 10.9% of its hires from elsewhere. The growth markets import: Miami at 28.7%, Charlotte at 30.9%, Nashville at 28.6%.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Legal Department Structure: Companies Staff Corporate, Buy Trial Work

  Companies build their legal teams around corporate work: corporate lawyers were 33.2% of hires from law firms, against 20.7% of moves between firms. Litigators are hired too, but mostly to manage cases that law firms then run.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Legal Specialties 2026: Insurance Litigation Shrinks, Fund Work Grows

  Insurance-side litigation shrank while the lateral market grew: coverage, professional liability and defense all fell. The clear rises are smaller, in fund work, private wealth and artificial intelligence.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Leveraged Finance in 2026: Repeat Borrowers, 2.4 Deals per Client

  Leveraged and acquisition finance runs on clients who come back: 776 deals for 327 clients, or 2.4 each, against 1.8 in M&A and 2.1 in bank lending. Sponsors are the largest client sector, and the work rose 18.8% (653 to 776 deals) while banking partner hiring rose 10.6% (546 to 604 partners).

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Litigation Partner Track by City 2026: Miami Early, Los Angeles Late

  Litigation's median time to partner is 10.0 years, but the share of litigators promoted within 8 years runs from 12.0% in Los Angeles to 29.4% in Miami: the city sets the clock, not the practice.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Logistics M&A Counsel in 2026: A Sector Where M&A Comes First

  M&A is the most frequent deal type in transportation and logistics, at 26.7% of the sector's deals against 19.3% across the whole deal record, and corporate and M&A lawyers sit on 32.2% of the sector's work, ahead of capital markets.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• M&A in 2026: More Clients Than Capital Markets, Fewer Repeat Deals

  M&A has the widest client base of the transactional deal types: 5,239 distinct clients against 4,831 in capital markets, on fewer deals. The average M&A client appears on 1.8 deals a year, and the largest client sector holds 10.6% of the work.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Making Partner in London: Private Equity Fast, Litigation Slow

  In London, private equity partners were promoted within 8 years 3.4 times as often as litigators. Against Manchester, the only other UK city we can measure, the London median is 2 years shorter.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Making Partner in Texas: Houston Runs a Faster Clock Than Dallas

  Houston and Dallas share a median time to partner of 10.0 years, but Houston clears more of its slower cases: 82.6% of its new partners arrive within 12 years against 76.9% in Dallas, and the split is widest in litigation.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Making Partner Within 8 Years: 31.8% in Private Equity, 10.1% in Trade

  The early track to partnership belongs to the deal practices: private equity and corporate made 31.8% and 29.5% of their partners within 8 years, against 23.2% for all practices and 10.1% in international trade. Counted within 12 years, white collar has caught up with the market; immigration and family have not.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Media Capital Markets Counsel in 2026: Disputes Outrun Offerings

  Media and entertainment work is fought more often than it is issued. Disputes lead the sector's deal mix at 39.8%, and capital markets lawyers, on 13.4% of its deals, rank third behind corporate and IP.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Media IP Counsel in 2026: Los Angeles Over-Indexes at 463

  Los Angeles took 23.4% of the moves by lawyers with a media focus who changed firms, an index of 463 against the market, and 16.2% of media and entertainment deals were handled with lawyers in the city. IP lawyers sat on 26.3% of the sector's deals, so a media company buying IP counsel is buying a bench that works and moves in Los Angeles.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Medical Device Capital Markets Counsel: Two Different Benches

  Capital markets lawyers sit on 44.4% of medical device deals. The device-focused lawyers who changed firms were a litigation, intellectual property and health care bench, and 63.3% of them were partners, against 31.5% of capital markets laterals.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Medical Device Deals in 2026: Capital Markets Ahead of M&A

  In medical devices the M&A bench is the second bench: capital markets lawyers sit on 44.4% of the sector's deals and corporate lawyers on 28.8%, a gap of 15.6 points. Across all dated deals the same gap is 3.1 points.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Midsize Law Firms Made 29.5% of New Partners on 23.4% of Hires

  Firms of 400-999 lawyers made 871 of the 2,955 lawyers promoted to partner, 29.5%, while taking 23.4% of lateral arrivals, and firms of 150-399 lawyers made partners earliest. Midsize firms make their partners; the largest firms lean more on the lateral market.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Midsize Law Firms: Absent From the Top 10, Ahead on Narrower Lists

  Firms of 400-999 lawyers took 23.4% of lateral hires, and every firm in the market top 10 has 1,000+ lawyers. The midsize class surfaces on narrower lists instead, and the firms named there hire partners at well above the market rate of 27.7%.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Midwest Time to Partner: Minneapolis Fast, Columbus Litigators Slow

  Minneapolis made 34.3% of its new partners within 8 years, more than any other US city we publish. Litigators in Columbus made 11.9%. The region runs on two very different partner clocks.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Mining Capital Markets Counsel in 2026: Five Firms on Both Lists

  Five firms sit among the ten most active on mining deals and among the ten most active on capital markets deals. The mining list's first firm stands alone in the 61-100 band, above eight firms in 21-40, and is not on the capital markets list.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Net Partner Gains 2026: Only Four of the Top 10 Hirers Make the List

  Hiring the most partners and growing the partner bench produce different lists. The top net partner gainer, Greenberg Traurig, sits in the 41-60 band, and only four of the ten busiest partner hirers also make the top 10 by net partner flow.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Niche Specialties Where a Few Firms Dominate Lateral Hiring, 2026

  In fund finance, insurance defense, debt capital markets, secondaries and merger control the top 10 hirers took between 47.5% and 56.3% of lateral moves. A niche hire competes with a short, named list of firms: firms outside the market's top 10 head fund finance and insurance defense, while firms from it head the other three, Latham & Watkins two of them.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Northeast Time to Partner 2026: Newark and Pittsburgh Run Slower

  Newark made 60.0% of its new partners within 12 years and Pittsburgh 65.2%, against 80.5% in Philadelphia and 78.7% in Boston. New York, at 73.2%, sits close to the market: the corridor's slow partner clocks run beside its largest market, not inside it.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Of Counsel Meaning: The Tier Gaining on Partner Promotions

  Of counsel is the senior tier between associate and partner. Counsel promotions rose from 46.8% of partner promotions in 2022 to 55.1% in 2025, and counsel now run a lateral market and a route in-house of their own.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Oil and Gas Capital Markets Counsel: Houston Ahead of New York

  Oil and gas deal work runs through Houston before New York: 48.2% of the sector's deals against 42.0%. Capital markets lawyers sit on 41.5% of those deals, against 26.4% of all deals.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Oil and Gas M&A Counsel in 2026: More Sector Lawyers Change Firms

  Lawyers whose focus is oil and gas changed firms more often: their moves rose 27.6% and Houston firms drew them at an index of 1,162, while the sector's deals held flat (+5.3%). Corporate and M&A lawyers sit on 32.3% of those deals.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Partner Hiring vs Total Hiring by Practice: Where the Lines Split

  Market-wide, partner hires rose 8.4% and all lateral moves rose 9.0%. Inside practices the two lines split: projects partner hiring held flat (+16.5%) on a flat practice, while litigation and real estate grew only below partner level.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Partner Promotion Calendar 2026: January Carries Most of the Year

  Law firms announced 56.4% of the last 12 months' partner promotions in January 2026. May is a smaller second round, and June and August barely register, the same shape as in 2024 and 2025.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Partner Share of Lateral Moves: 33.4% in February, 25.1% in August

  Partners take a larger slice of lateral moves in winter than in summer, and 2026 stretched both ends against 2025. Measured over a full year, their share of moves was 27.0%, against 27.1% a year earlier.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Partner Track Spread by Practice: 7 Years in Immigration, 3 in M&A

  The fastest quarter of new partners is named at much the same point in every practice; the slowest quarter is not. In immigration it waited 16.0 years or more, against 11.0 years in corporate and M&A and 12.0 years market-wide, so the spread, more than the median, says how far a firm can plan a partner pipeline.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Partner vs Associate Lateral Moves: Partners Gain Share Since 2022

  Associates are still most of the lawyers who change firms. What has changed since 2022 is the mix: partners now make up a larger slice of lateral moves, even though the past 12 months grew at the market's pace.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Partner-Heavy Lateral Hiring and Partner Growth: 2026 Firm Data

  Four firms where partners make up 45% to 55% of lateral hires, against 27.7% market-wide, all rank in the top 10 for net partner gain. Three volume hirers whose intake is mostly associates sit outside it.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Partners Made or Bought: Chicago 0.94, Dallas 0.49, Seattle 0.39

  Chicago firms make 0.94 partners for each lateral partner they hire; Los Angeles and Dallas make 0.49 and Seattle 0.39. New York, at 0.76, sits next to the market's 0.79.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Pharma & Biotech Capital Markets Counsel: Smaller Deals, Other Leaders

  Pharma and biotech deals are small tickets for the capital markets bench: a $250 million median against $563.2 million for the practice. The two firms the sector uses most are not the practice's two busiest desks.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Pharma IP Counsel in 2026: One Firm on Both the Pharma and IP Lists

  The firms most active on pharma and biotech deals and the firms most active on intellectual property deals form two almost separate lists: Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is the only name on both. The sector list follows a deal flow where capital markets lawyers sit on 53.1% of deals and IP lawyers on 10.3%.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Pharma M&A Counsel in 2026: Corporate Lawyers on 23.4% of Deals

  Corporate and M&A lawyers sat on 23.4% of pharma and biotech deals, against 47.8% of technology deals. A drug company's deal work runs through capital markets lawyers first, and the M&A bench it hires is a smaller one, shared with every other sector.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Power Capital Markets Counsel: Fastest Growth of Six Largest Sectors

  Of the six client sectors that carry the most capital markets deals, power grew fastest, rising 27.6% against 14.5% for pharma and biotech. Capital markets partner hiring held flat (+1.1%) over the same windows.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Power M&A Counsel Is One of Three Benches: No Practice Owns the Work

  Power and renewables work splits across three practices of similar size: projects lawyers on 32.9% of the sector's deals, corporate and M&A lawyers on 27.7% and capital markets lawyers on 26.0%. A general counsel who buys only an M&A team is buying one bench out of three.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Practice Hotspots by City: Hiring Clusters Where Regulators Sit

  The sharpest practice concentrations in lateral hiring sit next to a regulator or an industry: antitrust in Brussels, trade in Washington, projects in Houston, banking in Charlotte. Among large cells, Los Angeles employment and New York funds stand out.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Practices Ranked: Litigation Holds the Volume, Smaller Practices Grow

  Litigation is involved in 39.9% of lateral moves but grew more slowly than the market. The growth sits in smaller practices: technology, data and privacy, tax, and funds.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Practices Where Specialist Firms Lead Lateral Hiring in 2026

  Specialist firms head the hiring lists in employment, product liability and insurance, and they build with associates and counsel. In private equity and capital markets, global full-service platforms come first.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Private Equity Deals Need Two Benches: No Practice Holds Half

  Private equity deals are worked by two practice groups at close to equal rates, 36.0% and 32.3%, while M&A runs on one. A firm that wants sponsor mandates needs both benches, and lateral partner hiring rose in each of them.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Private Equity Lawyers Work Almost Only for Sponsors: Not the Reverse

  Sponsors are the client on 83.9% of the deals private equity lawyers work, but those lawyers appear on only 32.8% of sponsor deals. A sponsor's panel needs funds, corporate and finance benches as well as a private equity group.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Product Liability Partner Track by City 2026: Philadelphia Runs Fast

  Product liability and tort lawyers in Philadelphia made partner within 8 years 41.7% of the time, against 13.5% in Los Angeles, and New York promoted only 65.2% within 12 years: the defense bar's clock depends on the city.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Product Liability Work for Individuals in 2026: Sector Up, Hiring Flat

  Matters involving individuals and consumers rose 15.8% year on year, but the product liability practice's own matters held flat (+0.2%) and its lateral partner hiring held flat (-5.0%). Product liability lawyers sit on 21.3% of the sector's matters, so demand is rising around a practice whose own readings are level.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Professional Services Capital Markets Counsel in 2026: One-Off Issuers

  Professional services companies are one-off issuers: their clients averaged 1.6 deals each in 12 months, against 2.6 across the capital markets practice. Capital markets lawyers worked on 18.6% of the sector's deals, behind corporate lawyers at 49.2%.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Project Finance Deals Rose in 2026 and Pulled Partners

  Project and infrastructure finance deals rose 22.0% on settled 12-month windows, and the projects practice answered with partners: partner hiring held flat (+16.5%) while hiring at all levels held flat (+1.3%). Across the whole market, partner and total hiring moved together.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Provider Product Liability Counsel in 2026: On 11.0% of Deals

  Product liability lawyers worked on 11.0% of healthcare provider and payor deals, between their 21.3% share of individual and consumer matters and 5.0% of consumer goods deals. Providers and payors in turn appear on 12.3% of the practice's own deals.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Public Law Work for Individuals in 2026: Washington Ahead of New York

  26.1% of individuals and consumers deals were handled with lawyers in Washington, DC, against 20.3% in New York, while government work runs the other way. Public law lawyers sit on 18.7% of the sector's deals, so a shortlist for this work should test Washington teams first.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Public Sector Counsel in 2026: Two Firm Lists, No Shared Name

  Eight of the ten firms most active on government and public sector deals share the 21-40 band, and none of the ten is on the public law practice's list. Public law lawyers sit on 21.5% of the sector's deals.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Real Estate and Construction Lawyers Go In-House Below Market Rate

  Real estate and construction lawyers leave firms for companies less often than the market does, at 11.3 and 9.4 moves per hundred lateral moves against 13.1. Firms keep adding real estate associates and counsel while property deal counts climb, so a company should plan a longer search below partner level.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Real Estate Counsel for Asset Managers: A Median 3.0 Times Larger

  Disclosed asset manager deals carry a median 3.0 times the real estate practice's, though that median covers all of the sector's work. Real estate lawyers sat on 6.7% of asset manager deals, and asset managers were 11.1% of real estate practice deals.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Real Estate Counsel Is Local: Smaller Shares in Every Hub City

  In every hub city that appears on both lists, a smaller share of real estate deals than of sponsor deals had lawyers there, from New York at 31.7% against 43.2% to London at 12.8% against 29.5%. A property company buys its legal work city by city.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Real Estate Deals in 2026: No Firm Stands Clear of the Field

  Real estate deal work has no dominant adviser: the first two firms sit in the 41-60 band of deals advised and the other eight in 21-40. Real estate deals rose 10.3% while real estate partner hiring held flat (-8.6%).

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Real Estate Finance Counsel in 2026: Two Partner Markets Pull Apart

  Banking and finance partners changed firms more often, 604 against 546, while partners focused on real estate moved less, 413 against 471. Property companies, whose deals carry a finance lawyer 9.6% of the time, buy from both markets at once.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Real Estate Partner Track by City 2026: Miami Fast, New York Slow

  Real estate lawyers in Miami and Chicago made partner within 8 years 37.9% and 36.4% of the time, against 13.9% in New York: the country's biggest real estate bench is among the slowest to promote.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Regulatory and Antitrust Deals: European Firms Hold Four of the Top 10

  Regulatory and antitrust is the smallest deal type on record, and its adviser list does not mirror the deal market: a European firm ranks first and four of the top 10 are European. The count fell 19.2% on settled windows while antitrust partner hiring held steady.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• REIT and Property Capital Markets Counsel: 4.7% of the Bench's Deals

  Property companies need capital markets lawyers on 27.4% of their deals, yet real estate is the client sector on only 4.7% of capital markets deals, against 13.8% for banks and 13.7% for pharma and biotech. To its capital markets firm, a REIT is a small client.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Renewable Energy Project Counsel in 2026: Deals Outgrow the Bench

  Power and renewables deals rose 27.6% on settled 12-month windows, while the count of power-focused lawyers who changed firms held flat (-5.5%). The projects practice already puts 57.1% of its deals into this one sector, so the extra work lands on teams that are not getting bigger through hiring.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Renewables Finance Counsel in 2026: Power Is the Second Client Sector

  Power and renewables are the banking and finance practice's second client sector, on 7.8% of its deals after banks at 17.8%. Seen from the sector, finance lawyers sit on 12.0% of power deals, alongside projects, corporate and capital markets teams.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Restructuring Deals Fell in 2026 While the Deal Market Rose

  Restructuring and insolvency shrank while every deal type with a larger record grew: it fell 10.4% while all dated deals rose 10.6%. Firms hired into the fall anyway, and restructuring lateral partner hires rose 21.1%.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Sector Firms vs Generalists: Who Tops Deal Lists by Industry, 2026

  The firm with the most deals overall also heads oil and gas, but sector firms come first in healthcare providers, pharma and biotech, and technology. In health care, the same firm leads the deal list and the lateral hiring list.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Semiconductor Capital Markets in 2026: Deals Up, Partner Hiring Flat

  Electronics and semiconductor deals rose 33.9% year on year while capital markets lateral partner hiring held flat (+1.1%). Capital markets lawyers sit on 52.5% of the sector's deals, so a chip issuer competes for partner time in a lateral market that did not grow.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Semiconductor M&A Counsel in 2026: Hong Kong Ahead of San Francisco

  Lawyers in Hong Kong worked on 14.9% of electronics and semiconductor deals, more than San Francisco at 12.8%, and Beijing makes the same city list. Corporate and M&A lawyers sit on 29.0% of the sector's deals, second to capital markets lawyers at 52.5%.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Senior In-House Hires: Counsel Move to Companies as Often as Partners

  Counsel and partners leave law firms for companies in almost equal numbers (114 against 105), while partners outnumber counsel 2.2 to one in moves between firms. Below the general counsel, the counsel tier is the senior pool that actually moves.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Small Law Firms Are Net Suppliers to Mid-Size Firms, Not Big Law

  Firms under 150 lawyers sent 1,177 lawyers to other firms and received 1,014, and the surplus went to firms of 400-999 lawyers and 150-399 lawyers. With firms of 1,000+ lawyers the exchange ran slightly the other way, and small-firm lawyers leave no faster than anyone else's.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Southeast Time to Partner 2026: Two Clocks, Miami and Charlotte

  Miami promotes 32.9% of its new partners within 8 years, Charlotte 7.0%, while medians stay between 9.0 years and 10.0 years: the region runs at least two partner clocks.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Sponsor Finance Counsel in 2026: On Just 6.0% of Sponsor Deals

  Finance lawyers appear on 6.0% of sponsor deals, a thinner share than on bank, power or real estate deals. Sponsors still account for 6.6% of the finance practice's own deals, so a sponsor buys from a bench whose main work lies elsewhere.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Sports IP Counsel in 2026: 33.1% of Sports Deals, 2.1% of IP's

  Intellectual property is the practice sports companies lean on most: IP lawyers sat on 33.1% of the sector's deals. Seen from the IP side, sports was 2.1% of the practice's deals, so a sports client is a small account on a busy bench.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Team Moves Are 1.5% of Law Firm Laterals, and They Cluster

  Almost all lateral hiring happens one lawyer at a time. The exceptions cluster: arbitration, technology and data, and intellectual property see team moves at several times the market rate, while corporate and M&A sits at 0.2%.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Team Moves by City: 17.9% in Minneapolis, 1.5% Overall

  Lawyers rarely change firms as a group: 1.5% of lateral moves were team moves over the latest 12 months. The exceptions are mid-sized cities, with Minneapolis at 17.9%, not the largest markets.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Tech Capital Markets in 2026: A Flat Sector Beside a Rising Practice

  Technology companies' deal flow held flat (+4.6%) in a year when the capital markets practice rose 10.0%. Capital markets lawyers sit on 24.0% of tech deals against 53.1% of pharma deals, so a tech issuer hires a bench whose growth comes from elsewhere.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Tech Companies' IP Counsel in 2026: IP Lawyers on Just 11.3% of Deals

  Technology and software is the client sector on 7.0% of intellectual property deals, second of the twelve sectors listed, yet IP lawyers worked on only 11.3% of the sector's own deals, against 31.9% in consumer goods, 29.5% in food and 26.3% in media. In tech, IP is a minority bench beside corporate lawyers, who sat on 47.8% of the sector's deals.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Tech Company Finance Counsel in 2026: Clients Come Back Less Often

  Technology and software companies spread 3,279 deals across 1,713 clients, a lower return rate than banks, pharma or the finance practice's own clients. Finance lawyers worked on 3.8% of technology deals.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Telecom Capital Markets Counsel in 2026: Sector Specialists Move More

  More telecom-focused lawyers changed firms this year: the count rose 33.3%, while capital markets lateral hiring held flat (+6.7%). Capital markets lawyers sit on 35.6% of telecom deals, more than any other practice.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Telecom M&A Counsel in 2026: A Bench That Rarely Changes City

  Lawyers who focus on telecommunications changed city on 8.3% of their moves, against 21.2% of corporate and M&A lateral moves. Corporate lawyers sit on 31.9% of telecom deals, so the M&A bench a company can hire is usually the one already in place.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• The Long Partner Track: Projects, Trade and Regulatory Work

  Sartori & Partners data show 66.9% of projects and infrastructure partners promoted within 12 years, against 86.7% in private equity and 75.4% across the market. The long track sits in project, trade, regulatory and private client work.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• The Top 10 Lateral Hirers Take 12.9% of Moves, 34.0% in Funds

  Lateral hiring is spread thin: 1,291 firms hired at least one lateral, and the top 10 took 12.9% of all moves and 13.5% of partner moves. How crowded the field is depends on the practice, from 12.0% in litigation to 34.0% in funds.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Time to Partner at the Firms That Promote Most: Volume Is Not Speed

  Among the firms that promote the most partners, speed and volume part ways: Kirkland & Ellis and McDermott Will & Schulte make partners faster than the market median of 10.0 years. Firm size alone moves nothing: the large-firm median is the same 10.0 years.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Time to Partner Holds at 10.0 years, but the Slow Tail Grows Longer

  The midpoint has not moved: the median time to partner was 10.0 years in 2022 and 10.0 years in 2025. The slow end has. By 2025 the upper quartile had reached 13.0 years and the mean 11.1 years, up from 10.9 years in 2022. In 2026 to date the mean is 11.6 years and only 17.5% of new partners were made within eight years.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Time to Partner in Canada: The City Gap Is a Litigation Gap

  Toronto litigators made partner within 8 years 52.2% of the time, against 38.1% in Montreal and 36.4% in Calgary. Corporate lawyers in Toronto and Montreal reach partner on nearly the same clock.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Time to Partner in Washington, DC: Why Deal Lawyers Wait Longer

  Washington promotes 14.4% of its new partners within 8 years, against 20.3% in New York. The shortfall sits in corporate, regulatory and white collar work, not in the city's litigation bench.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Tort Partner Tracks in 2026: A Fast Start and a Long Tail

  Tort specialities promote early and late at once. In premises and general liability the middle half of new partners took 8.0 years to 14.0 years, a spread of 6 years against 3 in private M&A, so the date of a partnership decision is harder to plan.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Transportation Capital Markets Counsel in 2026: Movers Go Mid-Size

  Capital markets lawyers sit on 23.9% of transportation deals, yet the transportation lawyers who change firms mostly land below the largest size class: 39.0% joined firms of 1,000+ lawyers, against 69.1% of capital markets lateral moves.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Utility Capital Markets Counsel in 2026: Big Tickets, Repeat Clients

  Utilities bring the largest disclosed tickets of the sectors compared here, a median of $802.5 million against $660 million for banks and $500 million in power, and 377 clients produced 949 deals in 12 months. Capital markets lawyers worked on 62.3% of them.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Utility M&A Counsel in 2026: A Smaller Share of Deals Than the Market

  Corporate and M&A lawyers worked on 16.2% of utility, water and waste deals, 7.1 points under their share of all dated deals, while capital markets lawyers were on 62.3%. In this sector the issuance team is hired first and the M&A team second.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Venture and Growth Deals in 2026: Small Tickets, Specialist Firms

  Venture and growth rounds carry a median disclosed value of $55.1 million against $1,200 million in M&A, and they publish a value far more often. Its ten most active advisers are headed by firms built around emerging companies, and five of those ten are absent from the M&A top 10.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• West Coast Time to Partner: San Diego and San Francisco Run Long

  The fastest quarter of new partners is promoted by 9.0 years in all five Western cities we compare. The gap opens at the slow end, where San Diego's upper quartile reaches 14.5 years against 12.0 years in Los Angeles.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• What a Team Hire Changes: 57.7% of DC Insurance Moves

  One team can be most of a local practice's year: 57.7% of Washington, DC insurance moves came in teams, against 3.1% for the practice overall. Firm hiring ranks count only individual hires, so those lawyers sit in no firm's position.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• What Big Law Firms Hire For in 2026: Three Practice Profiles

  The firms that hire the most lateral lawyers do not share one practice mix. Transactional engines, broad platforms and a litigation-defense model each recruit for different work, so a benchmark only holds inside its own profile.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• What Is a General Counsel? 772 Companies Hire From Law Firms

  A general counsel runs a company's legal function. Companies fill legal seats from law firms steadily, about 159 moves a month spread across 772 companies, with no single employer dominating.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• What Law Firms Announce: Rankings Lead, Most Lateral Moves Go Unsaid

  Rankings and awards filled 13,930 of 31,945 firm announcements in 12 months. Hire announcements came to 3,649, against 14,091 recorded lateral moves: most moves are never announced.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Where Changing Firm Is the Promotion: Legal Specialities in 2026

  In distribution and agency work 28.3% of lateral moves came with a higher title, against 12.9% across the market and 8.0% in defamation. In some specialities the next title is easier to win at a new firm than at home.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Where Law Firms Promote Partners: Practice and City Classes, 2026

  Litigation produced 126 of New York's 399 new partners in the 12 months to May 2026 and 73 of Washington's 164. New York's transactional groups and litigation in Washington, Chicago and London hold the other large classes.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Where Lawyers Go When They Leave Firms: 86.1% Join Another Firm

  Between May and October 2026, 86.1% of lawyers who left a law firm joined another firm, 11.3% went in-house and 0.4% joined government. A firm's retention contest is with other firms first, and above all for its partners.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Where Making Partner Takes Longest: Immigration, Family and ESG

  Sartori & Partners data show 54.3% of business immigration partners promoted within 12 years, against 75.4% across the market. Family, ESG and climate change specialities sit at the same level: the slow tracks are advice to individuals and newer fields.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Where Tech M&A Gets Done in 2026: A Bay Area Bench Sponsors Use Less

  18.1% of technology deals were handled with lawyers in San Francisco, against 11.2% of sponsor deals, and Palo Alto and Silicon Valley carry rows of their own. Corporate and M&A lawyers work on 47.8% of the sector's deals, against 23.3% across the market.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Where Top Law Firms Source Lateral Hires in 2026: Three Supply Lines

  The size of firm a hirer recruits from splits the busiest hirers into three supply lines. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe take 90% and 85% of hires from firms of 1,000+ lawyers, against 56.6% for the market; growth hirers draw on firms of 400-999 lawyers instead.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Which Lawyers Move In-House: Tech and IP Most Often, Tax Rarely

  Technology, data and privacy lawyers left firms for companies at 30.3 for every hundred lateral moves, and intellectual property lawyers at 24.3, against 13.1 across the market. Tax and product liability lawyers, at 8.2 and 8, rarely make the move: a company search there starts from a thin pool.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Who Borrows: Banks Are 2.4 Times Their Market Share in Lending

  Bank lending work follows banks and real assets: banks and financial institutions sit on 16.8% of lending deals against 7.1% of all deals. Lending work rose 11.4% and lateral banking partner hiring rose 10.6%, almost in step.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Who Hires From Whom by Firm Size: 39.0% of Moves Stay in Big Law

  Big law recruits mostly from big law: 39.0% of moves with both firm sizes known stay inside the 1,000+ lawyers class. Midsize firms send 1,200 lawyers up and take 1,117 back, so the 400-999 lawyers class feeds the largest one, by a narrow margin.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026