City monitor · November 2026
Montreal: lateral market monitor
Lawyers who joined a new firm in Montreal over the last 12 months: how many, at what level, in which practices and with which firms.
The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026
- 85
- Lateral moves, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- +45.8%
- Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
- 17.6%
- Partner share of moves
- 21
- Firms that hired
What the data show
In the Sartori & Partners lateral record, 85 lawyers joined a new firm in Montreal from November 2025 to October 2026, 0.6% of all lateral moves we tracked. Year on year, on windows that end a month early, the count grew 45.8% (59 to 86). It outpaced the market's own change of +9.0%.
The partner share is 17.6%, below the market's 27.7%, so most movers are associates and counsel. A step up in title came with 11.8% of moves (market 12.9%).
- Partner17.6%
- Counsel9.4%
- Associate71.8%
21 firms hired at least one lateral in Montreal in the window. Ten firms account for 77.1% of arrivals, against 12.9% across the market: concentrated. Fasken Martineau DuMoulin ranks first by lateral arrivals, in the 6-10 band.
By practice, Corporate & M&A comes first, involved in 38.8% of arrivals here (20.7% across the market).
A rising, associate-led flow in Montreal favors firms that build teams from below; a partner search here needs a longer runway.
Firms by rank and band
Each firm appears as a rank and a band, never an exact count, and only with at least 10 moves in the window.
| Rank | Firm | Moves (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fasken Martineau DuMoulin | 6-10 |
| 2 | BCF Business Law | 6-10 |
| 3 | Stikeman Elliott | 6-10 |
| 4 | McCarthy Tétrault | 6-10 |
| 5 | Gowling WLG | 3-5 |
| 6 | Osler Hoskin & Harcourt | 3-5 |
| 7 | Blake Cassels & Graydon | 3-5 |
| 8 | DWF | 3-5 |
| 9 | Borden Ladner Gervais | 3-5 |
| 10 | Torys | 3-5 |
| Rank | Firm | Moves (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | BCF Business Law | 6-10 |
| 2 | Dentons | 6-10 |
| 3 | Gowling WLG | 3-5 |
| 4 | DWF | 3-5 |
| 5 | Miller Thomson | 3-5 |
| 6 | McCarthy Tétrault | 3-5 |
Related monitors and reports
Practices in Montreal
- Corporate & M&A33 moves
- Litigation & Disputes29 moves
Other cities
- New York
- London
- Washington, DC
- Los Angeles
- Chicago
- San Francisco
- Boston
- Dallas
- Houston
- Miami
- Philadelphia
- Paris
- Atlanta
- Denver
- Seattle
- Toronto
- Charlotte
- San Diego
- Brussels
- Manchester
- Nashville
- Sydney
- Dubai
- Hong Kong
- Austin
- Minneapolis
- Frankfurt
- Milan
- Amsterdam
- Tampa
- Singapore
- Cleveland
- Munich
- Bristol
- Pittsburgh
- Raleigh
- Leeds
- Detroit
- Phoenix
- Portland
- St. Louis
- Orlando
- Calgary
- Warsaw
- Columbus
Hiring in this market
Reports
- Montreal Law Firm Partner Market 2026: Corporate Heavy, Partner Light
Corporate work turns up in Montreal lateral hiring at an index of 188 against the market, above Toronto's 140, while partners were only 17.6% of Montreal moves, against 24.6% in Toronto and 27.7% market-wide. Total moves rose 45.8% on the settled year.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026
Edition November 2026. Window: November 2025 to October 2026. Source: Sartori & Partners, from public law-firm announcements, firm websites and professional profiles, checked monthly. Methodology. Spot an error? [email protected].
For law firm leaders
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