Which Lawyers Move In-House: Tech and IP Most Often, Tax Rarely

A general counsel who asks which law firm lawyers move in-house is really asking where a search will meet the least resistance. Sartori & Partners data show that 953 lawyers left law firms for 772 companies between May and October 2026, or 13.1 for every hundred lawyers who moved to another firm in the same months. That single rate hides a wide spread. Measured practice by practice, technology, data and privacy lawyers join companies at 2.3 times the market rate, while tax lawyers sit well below it. This report ranks practices by that rate rather than by raw volume, because the rate tells a company how often lawyers in a given field are already choosing the in-house route.

In the Sartori & Partners lateral database, 93 technology, data and privacy lawyers joined a company in the 6 months to October 2026, while 307 moved to another law firm. That works out at 30.3 moves to companies per hundred lateral moves, the highest rate of any practice we track. Intellectual property comes next at 24.3, and the gap to the market average is 17.2 points.

The practice is small in lateral terms, at 4.2% of moves between firms over 12 months, but its lateral side is expanding. Hiring between firms in technology, data and privacy rose 32.6% year on year, to 594 moves from 448. Firms want these lawyers too, so the in-house rate is not a sign of a field firms have stopped hiring in.

For a company, this is the most receptive practice to recruit from: its lawyers are already making the move at the highest rate on record. The constraint is size. A privacy or product counsel search in one city may produce a short field, and the same candidates will hear from law firms that are adding to this bench. Go to market expecting quick replies, and be ready to close within weeks rather than months.

Intellectual property lawyers made 123 moves to companies against 507 moves between firms over the same 6 months, a rate of 24.3 per hundred. Unlike technology, the lateral side of the practice is not growing: hiring between firms held flat (+7.2%), at 1,058 moves against 987 a year earlier. A steady lateral market and a high in-house rate together mean that companies are a regular destination for these lawyers, not an occasional one.

Geography shapes the search. San Francisco took 9.4% of intellectual property moves between firms, against 3.2% of all lateral moves. Boston took 6.1% against 2.6%, and Washington, DC 10.5% against 5.6%. Patent work clusters near technology businesses, life sciences and the patent office, and the bench follows.

A company hiring patent, trademark or licensing counsel in those three cities draws on a dense local bench with a record of moving in-house. Elsewhere, budget for relocation or a remote arrangement from the start, since the candidates you want are likely to sit in one of them.

Rank practices by raw count and the order changes. Litigation & Disputes featured in 359 moves to companies and Corporate & M&A in 316, well above technology or intellectual property. Those counts reflect size more than appetite. Corporate lawyers made 1,569 lateral moves over the same 6 months, so their rate of 20.1 per hundred sits below intellectual property and above the market average of 13.1.

Litigation shows the gap between the two views most clearly. It supplies the largest count, yet its lawyers went to companies at 12.3 per hundred lateral moves, 0.8 points below the market figure. Most litigators who change jobs move to another firm.

The two measures answer different questions. Volume tells a company how many candidates exist in a practice; the rate tells it how often those lawyers choose a company over a firm. A corporate or commercial role draws on the deepest pool, with a healthy rate. A litigation role has many candidates but needs a stronger pitch. A technology or IP role draws on a smaller pool that moves in-house far more often.

At the other end, tax lawyers moved to companies at 8.2 per hundred lateral moves and product liability and torts lawyers at 8. Sartori & Partners counts 30 tax lawyers and 39 product liability lawyers who joined a company in 6 months, against 364 and 488 who moved to another firm.

Tax lawyers are not standing still. Lateral hiring in tax rose 23.8% year on year, to 733 moves from 592. Partners made up 37.9% of tax moves between firms, against 27.7% across the market, so the demand for senior tax lawyers comes from other firms competing on partnership and pay. Product liability is a courtroom practice, and its lateral hiring held flat (+2.3%), at 981 moves against 959.

For a company, a tax or product liability hire is the slowest search in this set. Few lawyers in either practice make the move unprompted, so the role has to be sold on scope, title and a reporting line to the general counsel or the finance chief. Budget more time than for a corporate or technology hire, look at lawyers who have already left private practice, and keep a standing relationship with outside counsel for the work that cannot wait.

Whatever the practice, the people companies take from firms are mostly junior. Associates were 76.7% of moves to companies and partners 11.0%, against 27.7% partners among moves between firms. A practice with a high in-house rate is therefore, in most cases, a practice whose associates are open to the move.

The employers are spread thin: 772 companies hired lawyers out of law firms in 6 months. The list of the most active ones explains part of the technology and IP result. Harvey ranks first, in the 21-40 band of lawyers hired, and Legora is also on the list; both sell software to lawyers and recruit them partly for product roles. Amazon, Apple, TikTok and OpenAI are technology businesses with heavy privacy and IP needs.

A company recruiting privacy or IP lawyers competes with these employers, which can offer equity, product work and a fast-moving brief. Price the offer against them as well as against law-firm pay scales, and describe the work concretely: the area the lawyer will own, the business they will sit next to, the decisions they will make.

Start every search from the rate, then check the volume. For technology, data and privacy roles, at 30.3 per hundred lateral moves, approach candidates directly and expect replies; the limit is the size of the local bench, not willingness. For intellectual property, at 24.3, concentrate on San Francisco, Boston and Washington, DC. For corporate roles, 316 moves in 6 months make it one of the two deepest pools, at a rate of 20.1.

For tax and product liability, at 8.2 and 8, plan for a longer search, a stronger case for the role and outside counsel to cover the gap while it runs. In every practice, write the job for an associate or counsel unless partner experience is truly needed: partners were 11.0% of moves to companies. Sartori & Partners updates these rates from public law-firm announcements, firm websites and professional profiles, checked monthly.