Nashville: lateral market monitor

In the Sartori & Partners lateral record, 116 lawyers joined a new firm in Nashville from November 2025 to October 2026, 0.8% of all lateral moves we tracked. Measured on settled 12-month windows, 112 moves against 80 the year before, the count rose 40.0%. That runs ahead of the wider market, which moved +9.0%.

With partners at 28.4% of arrivals, the mix is in line with the market's 27.7%. On settled windows partner moves alone went from 29 to 32 (+10.3%), a change inside the noise of the two counts, so we read it as flat. A step up in title came with 6.9% of moves (market 12.9%).

Lateral hires in Nashville were spread across 34 firms. The ten firms at the head of the hiring table took 73.3% of arrivals (12.9% market-wide), so hiring here is concentrated. First on the hiring table is Kirkland & Ellis, with arrivals in the 21-40 band.

Litigation & Disputes ranks first among practices, involved in 47.4% of the city's arrivals against 39.9% of the whole market. 28.6% of movers also changed city, against 20.5% market-wide.

Volume in Nashville is rising with a mix close to the market, so timing matters more than the level you hire at.