Cities Gaining Lawyers From Other Cities: Los Angeles and Miami Lead

Which cities are lawyers moving to? Counted net, as lawyers arriving from other cities against lawyers leaving for them, the answer is Los Angeles and Miami. Sartori & Partners data show that Los Angeles took in 95 lateral hires from other cities over the 12 months to October 2026 and sent 65 the other way, while Miami took in 66 and sent out 37. New York sits at the far end of the ranking: 248 lawyers left it for a firm in another city and 189 arrived. For a firm that hires partners, the balance shows where relocation works in its favor and where a hire from out of town will be the harder sell.

The balance can be published only where both flows are large enough to report. That holds for Los Angeles, Miami, London, Chicago, Denver, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, San Diego, Paris, Boston, Houston, Dallas, San Francisco and New York. Every other city shows one side at most, so its balance is left out here.

Los Angeles finished the 12 months 30 lawyers ahead on relocation and Miami 29, the largest net gains among the cities where both flows can be counted. They reach those figures from very different sizes. Los Angeles recorded 712 lateral arrivals in all, so its newcomers from other cities sit against a large local market and work out at 1.5 arrivals for every departure. Miami, with 302 lateral arrivals, runs a steeper ratio of 1.8.

Volume grew alongside the inflow. Los Angeles lateral hiring rose 21.0%, to 714 moves from 590, across the settled 12-month window, and Miami hiring rose 34.4%, to 305 moves from 227. The largest outside source for each city is a single market: San Francisco supplied 30 of Los Angeles hires, 4.2% of the total, and New York supplied 21 of Miami hires, 7.0%.

For a firm building in either city, a candidate from elsewhere is a routine hire rather than a long shot. Many peers have already made the same move, and a search that reaches past the local bar will find people prepared to come.

London comes third, 25 ahead, with 153 arrivals from other cities against 128 departures. Its flows are the largest outside New York in both directions, so the net figure is small next to the traffic behind it. London lateral volume held flat (-2.5%) over the settled window, at 1,353 moves against 1,387. Chicago gained 19, with 78 in and 59 out.

Denver is the case that stands out for its size. It ranks 14th among cities by lateral volume, yet its net gain of 18 sits next to Chicago's, at 1.7 arrivals from other cities for every departure. Philadelphia gained 11, with 47 in and 36 out. Washington, DC came close to balance, at 106 arrivals against 98 departures. San Diego and Paris recorded equal counts in each direction, 25 for San Diego and 23 for Paris.

Denver lets a firm recruit from a national pool while competing in a smaller market. In London and Washington, DC, heavy traffic both ways means a relocating hire is nearly as likely to leave as to arrive, so retention terms deserve as much attention as the offer itself.

New York sent 59 more lawyers to other cities than it received, the widest gap on either side of the ranking. In the Sartori & Partners lateral database, 248 lawyers left New York for a firm elsewhere over 12 months and 189 came the other way. This is not a shrinking market: New York lateral hiring rose 11.9%, to 2,084 moves from 1,862, in the settled window. The city fills its benches from its own pool and sends a surplus outward.

Over three years the destinations are spread rather than concentrated. Washington, DC took 54 New York lawyers and Miami 49, with Newark, London and Los Angeles close behind. Over the latest 12 months the same two cities are the only destinations large enough to report, at 21 and 21 moves.

Matched city by city, New York sent out more than it took back on five of the six routes shown. Boston is the exception, sending 34 lawyers to New York against 30 going the other way. The widest gaps are with Los Angeles, which took 40 New York lawyers and sent back 23, and Chicago, at 36 against 23.

For a New York firm, competition for talent is not only the firm across the street: a partner who wants a different city has a ready market in Washington, DC, Miami and Los Angeles. For a firm in those cities, New York is the deepest pool of candidates who are open to moving.

San Francisco is the second-largest net sender: 71 lawyers left for other cities and 57 arrived, a gap of 14. Much of that gap runs south. Over three years, 58 San Francisco lawyers moved to Los Angeles, the largest single flow out of the city, and 36 made the opposite trip.

Read from Los Angeles, the city came out ahead on each of its three reportable routes over three years: 39 lawyers arrived from San Diego against 33 who left for it, with wider margins on the San Francisco and New York routes.

Dallas and Houston show that a growing market does not need relocation to grow. Dallas hiring rose 28.2%, to 350 moves from 273, and Houston hiring rose 51.1%, to 337 moves from 223. Both still sent more lawyers to other cities than they received: Dallas 52 against 42, Houston 56 against 47. Over three years the two cities trade lawyers mainly with each other, with 23 moving from Houston to Dallas and 24 going the other way. Boston has the smallest deficit of the four, 53 out against 45 in.

In these four cities, the growth in hiring comes from the local market. A firm opening or expanding there should plan to compete with local rivals on terms rather than count on lawyers relocating in.

There is no three-year version of the balance, but the share of hires who changed city has one, and it shows the gainers pulling harder. In Miami, 28.7% of lateral hires over 12 months came from another city, against 23.6% over three years; in Denver the share is 28.5% against 23.7%. The market as a whole moved the other way, 20.5% against 21.6%, and so did New York, at 10.9% against 12.4%.

London and Chicago, both net gainers by count, now draw a smaller share of their hires from elsewhere than over three years: 15.2% against 17.7% in London, 15.7% against 17.9% in Chicago. Their gains come from heavy two-way traffic rather than a growing pull. Sartori & Partners figures put Los Angeles in the same group, at 16.4% against 17.0%.

The pull is strongest where the market is still filling out. A firm hiring into Miami or Denver can expect candidates from other cities to accept more readily than they did a few years ago, which shortens the list of reasons a search there stalls.

First, widen the search where the balance is positive. In Los Angeles, Miami and Denver, a shortlist confined to local lawyers ignores the route many hires actually took; Denver alone drew 1.7 arrivals from other cities for every departure. Second, in New York and San Francisco, plan for departures by geography as well as by rival: Washington, DC and Miami take the most New York leavers, Los Angeles the most from San Francisco, and a retention conversation should cover that before a partner raises it. Third, in Dallas, Houston and Boston, expect the candidate pool to be local and the competition to be on terms. A relocation package matters less there than a clear practice plan.