Professional Services Lawyers Move in Teams, Far Above the Market

Companies looking for lawyers for professional services firms should plan for colleagues as well as candidates. Sartori & Partners data show 88 lateral moves in the 12 months to October 2026 by lawyers whose focus is accounting, consulting, staffing and other professional services clients, and 14.8% of them were part of a team that joined the same firm in the same quarter. Across the whole lateral market the figure was 1.5%. For an accounting, consulting or staffing firm building its own legal team, that changes the search: the lawyer you want may be weighing a group offer from another law firm, and may not want to leave the group behind.

Our companion report on the sector's deals finds that work M&A-heavy and rarely priced. The lawyers who carry a professional services focus look different. They are mostly litigators, a large share of them are partners, and they change firms in groups far more often than their peers.

In the Sartori & Partners lateral database, a group move is a lateral move made as part of a team that joined the same firm in the same quarter. Among professional services lawyers that share was 14.8%, which is 9.9 times the market's 1.5%, or about ten times. The share rests on a small count, so read it as a rough size rather than a precise rate. Even so, it stands apart from another litigation-heavy group: insurance-focused lawyers moved as part of a team in 1.1% of cases.

These lawyers also tend to stay put geographically. Only 16.1% of professional services movers changed city as well as firm, against 20.5% of all lateral moves. Most candidates from this group will be found in the city where their work already sits.

For a hiring company, the consequence is practical. Ask in the first conversation whether the candidate is part of a team in talks with another firm. Expect a slower decision, and expect your offer to be weighed against a package that keeps colleagues, clients and a practice name together.

The count of partner moves among professional services lawyers rose 71.4% year on year, to 60 from 35 in the settled 12-month windows. The count of moves at every level rose 42.2%, to 91 from 64. In the whole market the partner count rose 8.4% and the count of all moves rose 9.0%, so this group moved much faster than the market on both measures.

Neighboring groups did not follow. Among insurance-focused lawyers the partner count held flat (-13.9%) and the count of all moves fell 9.5%; among construction-focused lawyers the partner count held flat (-13.8%).

Seniority is the second difference. Partners were 65.9% of professional services movers in the past 12 months, against 27.7% of all lateral moves. Associates were 26.1% here and 58.5% in the market.

A partner move is often where a team move starts, because associates and counsel who work on a partner's matters have reason to follow. A company recruiting a senior lawyer from this group is competing with partnership offers, and should set the title, reporting line and pay with that in mind.

Litigation and disputes appear on 68.2% of professional services movers in the past 12 months, against 39.9% of all lateral moves. No other practice reaches a publishable count in the 12-month window, so the wider mix comes from the 36-month view.

Over three years, litigation and disputes appear on 73.5% of these moves against 41.0% for the market. Employment and labor appear on 21.8%, against 11.2%. Insurance and reinsurance appear on 13.9%, against 4.9%, which fits claims work against professionals, often funded by insurers. Corporate and M&A, by contrast, sits at 13.9%, below the market's 19.2%.

The pool that changes firms is a disputes pool. If the in-house role is mainly claims, regulatory inquiries and workforce matters, this group fits it well. If the role is mainly transactions, search among corporate lawyers with deal experience in the sector, not among lawyers who carry the sector label.

Over three years, 16.4% of professional services movers left firms of under 150 lawyers, against 11.4% across the market. Firms of 1,000+ lawyers supplied 54.4% of these movers and 56.6% of the market's. Insurance-focused movers came from the smallest firms even more often, at 23.3%, and construction-focused movers at 19.8%.

On arrival the pattern shifts toward the middle: 32.8% of these movers joined firms of 400-999 lawyers over three years, against 25.0% for the market. Moves out of law firms into companies look different again. Across all sectors, Sartori & Partners recorded 953 such moves between May and October 2026, and 59.3% of those lawyers came from firms of 1,000+ lawyers, against 4.3% from firms of under 150 lawyers.

A company that recruits in-house lawyers only from the largest firms will miss the 16.4% of this group who came from small ones.

Over three years, 118 firms hired the 238 professional services lawyers who moved, and the ten most active took 26.7% of those moves. In the whole market the top 10 took 12.2%. Freeman Mathis & Gary heads the list in the 11-20 band of hires, and the next four sit in the 6-10 band.

Firm ranks count individual hires. Lawyers who arrived as one team are in the totals but not in a firm's rank, so the list can understate the firms that took whole groups.

These firms are where a professional services lawyer's next offer is most likely to come from. A company competing for the same people should know the names, ask candidates which of these firms they have spoken with, and keep its own timetable short enough that a team offer does not close first.

Plan for a team in the room. With 14.8% of moves made as groups, against 1.5% in the market, the lawyer you want may be negotiating as part of one. Raise it early, and be ready to explain why a single move into your company is worth leaving colleagues for.

Expect seniority. Partners were 65.9% of this group's lateral movers. Across all sectors, partners were 11.0% of the lawyers who moved from law firms to companies between May and October 2026, so a partner from this group who joins a company is an unusual hire. Title, reporting line and pay have to stand up against a partnership offer.

Hire for disputes, and look past the largest firms. Litigation runs through 68.2% of the movers, and 16.4% of them came from firms of under 150 lawyers over three years. Move quickly: the partner count rose 71.4%, so competition for these lawyers is getting stronger.