Aerospace and Defense Lawyers: Hiring Is 2.9 Times as Concentrated

A company hiring aerospace and defense in-house counsel competes for experienced lawyers in a narrower field than the legal market as a whole. Sartori & Partners data show that over the latest 36 months 92 lawyers with an aerospace and defense focus moved between law firms, and the top 10 hiring firms took 35.9% of them. Across all 39,809 lateral moves in the same window, the top 10 hirers took 12.2%, so hiring in this field is 2.9 times as concentrated. The movers are senior, too: 68.5% joined as partners, against 26.9% across the market. The 12-month count, 33 moves, is too small to read on its own, so this report works on the 36-month window and names it each time.

In the Sartori & Partners lateral database, 62 law firms hired at least one aerospace and defense lawyer over 36 months. The top 10 among them took 35.9% of the 92 moves. The same measure across every lateral move in the market is 12.2%, which puts this field at 2.9 times the market's concentration.

Part of that gap is the size of the pool, because a top 10 covers more of a small field than of a large one. Bigger sector pools show how much. Lawyers with an electronics and semiconductors focus made 340 moves over the same 36 months, and their top 10 hirers took 22.1%. Government and public sector lawyers made 1,021 moves, with a top-10 share of 17.2%. Aerospace and defense sits 13.8 points above the chip sector, so the concentration is more than arithmetic.

Greenberg Traurig ranks first, in the 6-10 band. DLA Piper, McGuireWoods, Crowell & Moring, Morrison & Foerster and Holland & Knight follow, each in the 3-5 band, so their order says little about volume. On partner hires alone, Greenberg Traurig again ranks first, ahead of McGuireWoods, Morrison & Foerster and Holland & Knight.

For a defense company, this is the competitor list. A general counsel who wants a senior trade or government contracts lawyer is bidding against a short set of firms that recruit in this field year after year and know what such a lawyer is worth. Build the offer, and the case for the role, against those firms rather than against a generic in-house pay scale.

Most aerospace and defense lawyers who change firms do it as partners: 68.5% over 36 months, against 26.9% of all lateral moves. Associates were 19.6% of the movers, against 59.2% across the market, and counsel 12.0% against 12.1%.

The latest 12 months lean the same way. On a small count, which gives a rough size rather than a precise figure, 54.5% of the year's movers were partners, against 27.7% across the market. A step up in title on the move is also more frequent here: 18.5% of aerospace and defense movers joined at a higher title than the one they left, against 12.3% of all lateral moves.

The senior end of this bench changes hands between firms; associates appear far less often. A company that needs a seasoned export control or government contracts lawyer should expect to recruit at partner level, with partner expectations on pay and title, or plan to grow that lawyer from a more junior hire.

Practice shares overlap, because one lawyer can carry several practices, so they are read one at a time and never added. In Sartori & Partners records, international trade and national security appears on 30.4% of aerospace and defense moves over 36 months, public law and government on 29.3%, litigation and disputes on 28.3%, regulatory and compliance on 22.8% and corporate and M&A on 22.8%.

Neither trade nor public law is large enough to appear among the market's largest practices over the same 36 months, while litigation sits on 41.0% of all lateral moves, above its 28.3% here. On a 12-month basis, international trade and national security appears on 0.8% of all lateral moves and public law on 2.1%.

Set against government and public sector lawyers, the field reads as regulation plus transactions. Regulatory and compliance appears on 22.8% of aerospace and defense moves against 10.6% for government lawyers, and corporate and M&A on 22.8% against 2.7%. Public law is close in both, at 29.3% and 33.2%. A role description that joins trade controls, government contracts and some disputes work matches the profile of the lawyers who move; one that asks for a single specialty narrows an already small field.

Over 36 months 53.3% of aerospace and defense lawyers who moved joined a firm in Washington, DC, against 5.2% of all lateral moves. 43.5% of them had left a Washington office. No other city has enough arrivals to be published.

The comparison sectors show how particular this is. Electronics and semiconductors lawyers joined Washington firms in 20.6% of their moves. Government and public sector lawyers, despite the name, joined there in 4.2%, and London comes first on their list at 8.8%.

These lawyers also tend to stay where they are. Only 15.3% of aerospace and defense movers changed city on the move, against 21.6% of all lateral moves. A company based away from the capital should not count on relocating a senior defense lawyer: budget for a Washington-based seat, or for a hybrid role with regular time there.

Sartori & Partners counted 34 aerospace and defense moves in the latest settled 12 months against 28 a year earlier, a gap that is flat at this size. Calendar years tell the same story: 29 moves in 2022, 20 in 2023, 32 in 2024 and 25 in 2025, with 32 from January to October 2026. Across the whole market, lateral moves rose 9.0% over the same settled windows.

The largest firms take the bulk of these moves. Over 36 months 63.0% of aerospace and defense movers joined firms of 1,000+ lawyers, against 52.5% across the market, and 58.8% had left firms of that size. Lateral moves are only one channel, so a steady count says nothing about a shrinking bench. It does mean few experienced candidates come free in any quarter: start a senior search before the need is urgent.

Moves into companies run on a different profile. Across all sectors, 953 lawyers left a law firm for a company between May and October 2026, and 76.7% of them were associates; partners were 11.0%. Among aerospace and defense lawyers moving between firms, partners were 68.5%. Moves to companies are tracked in full only from May 2026 and are not broken out by sector, so the contrast is one of direction.

Three steps follow. First, treat the top 10 hirers as the competition: they took 35.9% of the field's moves over 36 months, so a strong candidate is likely to hear from one of them. Second, recruit in Washington, where 53.3% of the movers joined a firm. Third, choose the level early. A senior hire means outbidding firms for a partner; a hire at associate or counsel level, where moves into companies cluster, draws on a wider pool and lets the company build its own senior bench.

For the firms that advise on the sector's deals, see our companion report on aerospace and defense law firms. For government lawyers who relocate, see our report on government lawyers changing city.