In-house moves · November 2026
In-house moves
Who leaves law firms for companies: level, practice, city and the companies that hire them, over the last six months.
The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026
- 953
- Moves to in-house rolesMay 2026 to October 2026
- 13.1
- Per 100 lateral moves
- 772
- Companies hiring
What the data show
From May 2026 to October 2026, Sartori & Partners data show 953 lawyers leaving a law firm for an in-house role, about 159 a month and 13.1 for every 100 lateral moves between firms.
Associates were 76.7% of those moves and partners 11.0%: in-house hiring draws mostly from the associate ranks.
- Partner11.0%
- Counsel12.0%
- Associate76.7%
By practice, Litigation & Disputes was involved in 37.7% of moves and Corporate & M&A in 33.2%. By city, New York lawyers made up 16.1%.
772 companies hired at least one lawyer from a law firm in the window. Harvey ranks first, in the 21-40 band.
Moves out of private practice are tracked in full from May 2026, so no earlier comparison is published.
- 1,000+ lawyers59.3%
- 400-999 lawyers24.1%
- 150-399 lawyers12.3%
- under 150 lawyers4.3%
For a general counsel hiring from law firms, the pool is mostly mid-level associates from large firms; a partner-level in-house hire is a smaller market and takes a targeted search.
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 | Hires (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harvey | 21-40 |
| 2 | Amazon | 11-20 |
| 3 | Apple | 5-10 |
| 4 | Legora | 5-10 |
| 5 | Capital One | 5-10 |
| 6 | TikTok | 5-10 |
| 7 | OpenAI | 5-10 |
| 8 | Stellantis | 5-10 |
Related monitors and reports
Working with us
Reports
- 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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
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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