Data Intelligence · November 2026
Firm reports
Reports on law firm hiring: peer groups and firm-level hiring analysis, with firms shown as ranks and bands.
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Hiring in this market
Reports
- 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 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 - 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 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 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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
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].
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