Client industry · November 2026
Government & Public Sector: who advises the sector
Dated deals for government & public sector clients over the last 12 months, the practices and firms behind them, and how lawyers with this focus moved.
The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026
- 852
- Dated deals, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- +5.1%
- Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
- $1,000m
- Median disclosed value
- 390
- Distinct clients
What the data show
Sartori & Partners data count 852 dated deals for Government & Public Sector clients from November 2025 to October 2026. On settled windows the deal count went from 811 to 852 (+5.1%), a change inside the noise of the two counts, so we read it as flat. The deal market as a whole moved +10.6% over the same windows.
By practice, Capital Markets is involved in 29.7% of these deals and Public Law & Government in 21.5%. By deal type, Disputes & investigations is involved in 44.6% of these deals and Capital markets in 27.2%.
Deal value was disclosed on 22.3% of them; where disclosed, the median was $1,000 million. 390 distinct clients appear across the window.
First among advising firms is Linklaters, with deals in the 21-40 band.
Lawyers whose work centers on Government & Public Sector changed firm 328 times in the same window. Partners were 43.6% of those moves, against 27.7% across the lateral market. Year on year those moves changed +4.9%.
For a company in Government & Public Sector, the adviser table shows where sector experience sits, which is where an in-house hire is most likely to come from.
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 | Deals (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Linklaters | 21-40 |
| 2 | Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton | 21-40 |
| 3 | Clifford Chance | 21-40 |
| 4 | A&O Shearman | 21-40 |
| 5 | White & Case | 21-40 |
| 6 | DLA Piper | 21-40 |
| 7 | Arnold & Porter | 21-40 |
| 8 | Liebert Cassidy Whitmore | 21-40 |
| 9 | Sullivan & Cromwell | 11-20 |
| 10 | Weightmans | 11-20 |
Related monitors and reports
Deal types
Other industries
- Banks & Financial Institutions
- Financial Sponsors
- Technology & Software
- Pharma & Biotech
- Asset Management & Funds
- Real Estate
- Power & Renewables
- Consumer Goods & Retail
- Food, Beverage & Agriculture
- Healthcare Providers & Payors
- Oil & Gas
- Industrial Manufacturing
- Media & Entertainment
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- Automotive
- Insurance
- Electronics & Semiconductors
- Medical Devices
- Mining & Metals
- Individuals & Consumers
- Hospitality & Leisure
- Aerospace & Defence
- Infrastructure
- Construction & Engineering
- Professional Services
- Fintech & Payments
- Telecommunications
- Transportation & Logistics
- Chemicals
- Sports
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- Aviation
- Digital Assets & Crypto
- Education
Up one level
Working with us
Reports
- Public Sector Lawyers Move Cities: 26.0% of Moves Change City
Lawyers who focus on government work change city more often than the rest of the lateral market, and they join large firms less often. A public body that searches nationally, and looks hard at mid-size firms, is fishing where this bench actually moves.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Who Advises Governments in 2026: Disputes and Public Law, Not M&A
Public bodies buy disputes and public law, and almost no M&A: disputes and investigations were 44.6% of the sector's deals and M&A only 3.3%. The eight most active advisers to public bodies all sit in the same 21-40 band of deals, so no firm stands clear of the rest.
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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