Few Private Equity Lawyers Go In-House as Firms Bid for Partners

A sponsor or portfolio company that sets out to hire a private equity lawyer in-house recruits from a practice that sends fewer of its lawyers to companies than the market does. Sartori & Partners data show that 75 private equity lawyers left a law firm for a company between May and October 2026, or 11.4 for every hundred lateral moves the practice made in the same months. Across all practices the rate was 13.1, and in corporate and M&A it was 20.1. Firms, meanwhile, are bidding for the same deal lawyers: lateral hiring of private equity partners rose 16.1% year on year. This report sets the in-house flow against that partner market and against sponsor deal activity, and ends with what it means for a company planning the hire.

Moves from firms to companies are tracked in full only from May 2026, so the rate covers six months and has no prior year beside it. In that window 75 private equity lawyers joined a company while 658 moved to another law firm, which gives 11.4 moves in-house for every hundred lateral moves. The market figure of 13.1 rests on 953 moves to companies against 7,281 lateral moves over the same six months.

The practice's weight in the in-house flow points the same way. Private equity was involved in 7.9% of all moves from firms to companies, below its 8.8% share of lateral moves over 12 months. Both are shares of moves involving the practice, and one move can carry several practices, so neither is a slice of a whole. For a company the reading is plain: the private equity lawyers already open to an in-house role are a thinner group than the market average, and a search has to reach people who are not yet looking.

Corporate and M&A lawyers left firms for companies at 20.1 per hundred lateral moves, 1.8 times the private equity rate. That was 316 moves in six months, and corporate work was involved in 33.2% of every move from a firm to a company, against 20.7% of lateral moves over 12 months.

The two groups overlap heavily. Corporate and M&A was involved in 89.3% of private equity lateral moves, so the corporate rate already includes most private equity lawyers. A company that can accept a strong M&A lawyer with sponsor-side exposure, instead of insisting on a pure buyout background, recruits from the larger and more willing pool.

In the Sartori & Partners lateral database, 469 private equity partners changed firms in the 12 months to September 2026, against 404 a year before, so partner hiring in the practice rose 16.1%. Over the same windows partner hiring across all practices rose 8.4%, and in corporate and M&A it rose 12.2%.

The level mix shows how partner-heavy this market is. Partners made 38.1% of private equity lateral moves over 12 months, against 27.7% across all practices, a gap of 10.4 points. Demand is concentrated as well: the ten firms that hired most took 27.0% of individual private equity hires, against 12.9% for the top 10 across the market. And 14.2% of private equity lateral moves came with a step up in title, above the market's 12.9%.

This is the price signal a company has to read. A private equity associate who stays in private practice is weighing a market where moves come with a title step more often than average and where partner hiring outpaced the whole market. An in-house offer has to answer that career path, not only the current salary, and it works most often with lawyers below partner: across all practices associates made 76.7% of moves to companies and partners 11.0%.

Firm demand follows the work. Deals involving financial sponsors rose 8.9% year on year, from 3,056 to 3,329 in the settled 12-month windows, and the private equity practice was involved in 32.8% of them. Private equity transactions in the narrow sense made 26.6% of sponsor deals, and fund formation 10.4%.

The lawyers who list sponsors as their own focus did not change firms much more often. Their lateral moves held flat (+6.8%), and partner moves among them held flat (+4.4%). Partners made 46.0% of those moves, against 38.1% in the private equity practice. More sponsor work and a steady sponsor bench mean the lawyers a portfolio company wants are busy and well rewarded where they sit. Plan for a longer search than a general commercial role needs, and start with associates and counsel.

The private equity bench sits in fewer places than the market. New York took 18.1% of private equity lateral moves over 12 months, an index of 122 against the market's own share, and London took 13.2% with an index of 143. Munich (405), Frankfurt (237) and Paris (217) sit far above the market, while Los Angeles (65) and Washington, DC (52) sit below it.

Firm size points the same way. Firms of 1,000+ lawyers took 71.6% of private equity lateral moves, against 53.6% across the market, and 59.3% of all lawyers who joined companies came from firms of that size. A company based outside New York or London should budget for relocation or a hybrid arrangement. One based in Germany or France has a deeper local bench than the size of its lateral market suggests.

Four points shape the search. First, the willing pool is small: private equity lawyers went in-house at 11.4 per hundred lateral moves, below 13.1 across the market, so most candidates will be approached, not found. Second, widen the brief: corporate and M&A lawyers moved to companies at 20.1 per hundred, and a deal lawyer with sponsor exposure is often the faster hire. Third, aim at associates and counsel, because firms are paying for private equity partners and partner hiring in the practice rose 16.1%. Fourth, build the offer against the firm path, with a title, a clear scope across the portfolio and equity where the company can grant it, since sponsor deals rose 8.9% and the work at firms is not easing.