Public Sector Lawyers Move Cities: 26.0% of Moves Change City

A general counsel or HR head at a public body who is hiring a public law attorney usually starts with the local market. The numbers argue for a wider net. Sartori & Partners data show that 26.0% of lateral moves by lawyers with a government and public sector focus came with a change of city in the 12 months to October 2026, against 20.5% for all lateral moves. The data count 328 such moves in that window, out of 14,091 across the market. This report looks at how far these lawyers travel, where they land, which practices they carry, and what size of firm hires them, and then sets out what that means for a public employer or a government contractor building a legal team.

Among moves where both cities are known, 26.0% of government-focused lawyers also changed city, a gap of 5.5 points over the market rate of 20.5%. The neighbors of this group move less. Lawyers focused on infrastructure changed city on 16.0% of their moves, and lawyers focused on construction and engineering on 21.7%. Public sector work is spread across state capitals, regional authorities and federal agencies, and the people who do it travel to it.

This is not a one-year spike. Across the 36 months to October 2026, 24.1% of government-focused moves came with a new city, against 21.6% for the whole market over the same window. The longer series rests on 1,021 moves, so the pattern is stable. For a public employer the consequence is direct: a candidate in another city is not a long shot in this field. A search that stops at the city limits leaves out a share of the bench that has already shown it will relocate.

Only three cities clear the publication threshold for government-focused arrivals in the 12-month window, and they tell a story of their own. Los Angeles took 6.7% of these moves, an index of 133 against its share of all lateral moves. New York took 6.1%, against 14.8% of the whole market. London sits close to its market weight, at an index of 89.

The deal record measures something else, and the contrast is useful. Lawyers in New York worked on 24.9% of government and public sector deals, and lawyers in Washington on 17.8%. That is where the sector's work is done; the lateral figures show where government-focused lawyers chose to join. Over 36 months, Washington took 4.2% of government-focused arrivals, against 5.2% of all arrivals. The capital is a place where the work concentrates, not a place where this bench piles up. A public body outside the large centers should expect to recruit people from elsewhere, and should budget relocation support into the offer from the start.

In the Sartori & Partners lateral database, the practices these lawyers carry show why a public body's search cannot be a single-practice search. Public Law & Government appears in 29.9% of government-focused moves, against 2.1% of all moves. International Arbitration & Public International Law runs at an index of 879, Projects & Infrastructure at 361 and Construction at 280. Environment & Sustainability runs at 346 and Regulatory & Compliance at 315.

Litigation & Disputes is the largest single practice in the group, at 43.6% of moves, yet its index of 109 is close to the market. Banking & Finance sits exactly on the market at 100. The specialist end is sharper still among partners: arbitration and public international law partners run at an index of 942, and projects partners at 392. The shares overlap, because one lawyer often carries several practices. For a hiring manager, the practical reading is to write the role around the matters it will handle, such as procurement disputes, construction claims or treaty work, and to accept candidates whose practice label differs from the job title.

Across the market, firms of 1,000+ lawyers took 53.6% of lateral moves in the 12 months to October 2026. For government-focused lawyers the figure was 38.5%. The difference went to the middle of the market: firms of 150-399 lawyers took 28.6% of government-focused moves against 13.3% of all moves, and firms of 400-999 lawyers 27.1% against 23.4%. Infrastructure-focused lawyers sit at the other end, with 75.1% of their moves going to firms of 1,000+ lawyers.

The 36-month view confirms the tilt: 38.0% of government-focused moves went to firms of 1,000+ lawyers, against 52.5% market-wide. Hiring is also more concentrated at the top of the list. The ten most active hirers of government-focused lawyers took 17.2% of these moves over 36 months, against 12.2% for the market's ten most active hirers. Greenberg Traurig and Dentons head that list, both in the 21-40 band of hires. A public body that recruits only from the largest firms in its own city sees a small slice of the people who do this work.

Volume held level while the market grew. Government-focused lateral moves held flat (+4.9%), from 327 to 343 in the settled 12-month window, while all lateral moves rose 9.0%, from 13,128 to 14,305. Lateral moves are only one channel into a legal team, so a level count says nothing about a smaller pool. The mix is senior: partners made up 43.6% of government-focused moves, against 27.7% of all moves. Teams were more common too, with 6.1% of moves part of a group, against 1.5% market-wide.

The route out of private practice into the public side is narrow on the record. From May to October 2026, Sartori & Partners counted 37 lawyers leaving firms for government roles across all practices, against 953 who joined companies in the same six months. Companies hired 13.1 lawyers out of firms per hundred lateral moves between firms. A public body competes with that corporate demand for the same people.

Search nationally from day one. With 26.0% of government-focused moves crossing a city line, against 20.5% market-wide, relocation is a normal step for this group, so put relocation support and a realistic start date in the first offer. Look past the largest firms: only 38.5% of these lawyers joined firms of 1,000+ lawyers, and firms of 150-399 lawyers hold a share well above their market weight. Define the role by the matters, since public law, construction, projects and arbitration all sit far above the market in this group. A government contractor can use the same map in reverse: the lawyers it needs to defend a procurement or construction claim often sit in mid-size firms in another city, and they move.