Renewable Energy Project Counsel in 2026: Deals Outgrow the Bench

A general counsel at a developer or a utility who goes looking for renewable energy project finance lawyers this year is shopping in a market where the work has run ahead of the people. Sartori & Partners data show 2,009 power and renewables deals on record in the 12 months to September 2026, against 1,575 in the 12 months before, a rise of 27.6%. Over the same windows, the count of lawyers whose own focus is power and who changed firms held flat (-5.5%), at 291 against 308. More deals, the same movable bench: that gap decides how fast a company can staff its next financing.

Across the whole deal record, work and people moved in step. All dated deals rose 10.6% on settled windows, and lateral moves at every level across the market rose 9.0%. Power broke that pattern. Its deal count grew by 434 matters, while the lawyers with a power focus who moved firm stayed near the level of the year before.

Put the two counts side by side and the pressure shows. There were 6.9 power deals on record for each power-focused lawyer who changed firms in the settled window, against 5.1 a year earlier. The senior end is no different: the partner count among power-focused movers held flat (-3.8%), at 127 against 132.

The yearly series tells the same story: the count of power-focused movers sat at 300 in 2022 and 307 in 2025. Firms that want more power capacity cannot buy it quickly in the lateral market, so most of the new work is being absorbed by teams already in place. For a company, that means the partner pitching your project is likely carrying more matters than a year ago.

In the Sartori & Partners deal records, the projects and infrastructure practice worked on 1,147 deals in the 12 months to October 2026, and 655 of them were in power and renewables. That is 57.1% of the practice's deals, for a sector that sits on 4.1% of all dated deals: 13.9 times its weight in the market. The next sector on the practice's list, banks and financial institutions, is on 10.2%.

Seen from the sector's side, projects lawyers sat on 32.9% of power deals, corporate and M&A lawyers on 27.7% and capital markets lawyers on 26.0%; one deal often carries several practices. The practice's own deal count rose 26.2%, from 903 to 1,140. A developer's real competition for a projects team is therefore other power companies, not borrowers in other sectors. When power work rises, the projects bench feels it first.

Of the power-focused lawyers who changed firms in the 12 months to October 2026, 71.2% moved within a projects and infrastructure practice, against 3.7% of all lateral moves. Banking and finance follows at 38.9%, and regulatory and compliance at 25.3%, an index of 876 against the market's share. One lawyer can sit in several groups, so these shares overlap.

These numbers need care next to the projects practice's own hiring. Partner hiring across the whole projects practice held flat (+16.5%), from 182 to 212, while total projects hiring held flat (+1.3%). That is a different count: it records the group a move was filed under, while the power figures record the lawyer's own focus, so the two are compared by direction and never subtracted. By direction they part. The practice added partners, but partners whose own focus is power were flat on the move. The extra projects partners did not come with a larger pool of power specialists changing firms.

Partners made up 43.9% of power-focused movers in the 12 months to October 2026, against 27.7% across all lateral moves. Associates were 44.2%, against 58.5% in the market.

Firms can recruit a partner who brings relationships, but the associates who run documents, permits and lender conditions move in smaller proportion. In Sartori & Partners data, 69.1% of power-focused movers joined firms of 1,000+ lawyers, against 53.6% of all moves, so most of the movable talent ends up at the largest platforms. For a company, the constraint on a busy deal is the depth of the team under the partner, and that is the layer the lateral market refills most slowly.

Where the work is done and where the movers go are two different maps. New York lawyers were on 32.9% of the sector's deals, London lawyers on 19.0% and Washington lawyers on 17.0%, and 12.2% of the sector's deals were handled with lawyers in Houston. One deal can involve several cities, so these shares overlap.

Houston drew 7.4% of power-focused movers, an index of 315 against the city's share of all lateral moves, the highest of the cities listed. Washington follows at 169. New York, where lawyers sat on the most power deals, sits at 95, close to its general weight in the market. A company running US assets will find the most active movement of power lawyers in Houston and Washington, not in the city with the largest deal count.

The sector's deal list, which covers all power and renewables work and not only the projects practice's share, is headed by Latham & Watkins and White & Case, each in the 101-150 band of deals advised over 12 months.

Over 3 years, the firms that hired the most power-focused lawyers were Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and Baker Botts, both in the 21-40 band of hires. Four firms appear on both lists: Latham & Watkins, White & Case, Watson Farley & Williams and CMS. The windows differ, and a firm missing from a top 10 may sit just below the cut, so absence says nothing about whether it hired.

The useful question for a pitch is not where a firm ranks but how its power team has changed. Ask each firm how many lawyers on the proposed team joined in the last 12 months and how many live power matters the lead partner carries.

Book counsel earlier. With 6.9 power deals on record per power-focused mover, against 5.1 a year before, the same desks carry more work than they did. A financing that needs a team in the spring should be scoped with counsel in the winter.

Name the team in the engagement letter, down to the associates. Associates are 44.2% of power-focused movers against 58.5% of the market, so a firm short of juniors cannot fill the gap quickly in the lateral market. Widen the search past the projects group: banking and finance lawyers sat on 12.0% of power deals, and regulatory lawyers with a power focus move at an index of 876. Look at Houston and Washington offices, where power movers over-index.

Sartori & Partners figures come from public law-firm announcements, firm websites and professional profiles, checked monthly; deal counts are matters on record, not fees.