Professional Services: who advises the sector

From November 2025 to October 2026, Sartori & Partners recorded 549 dated deals for Professional Services clients. On settled windows the deal count went from 503 to 541 (+7.6%), 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, Corporate & M&A is involved in 49.2% of these deals and Capital Markets in 18.6%. By deal type, M&A is involved in 40.6% of these deals and Capital markets in 17.7%.

Deal value was disclosed on 5.5% of them; where disclosed, the median was $882 million. 334 distinct clients appear across the window.

Kirkland & Ellis ranks first among advising firms, in the 11-20 band; the full top 10 follows as ranks and bands.

Lawyers whose work centers on Professional Services changed firm 88 times in the same window. Partners were 65.9% of those moves, against 27.7% across the lateral market. Year on year those moves changed +42.2%.

For a company in Professional Services, the adviser table shows where sector experience sits, which is where an in-house hire is most likely to come from.