Lateral Hiring Concentration by City: Nashville's Top 10 Take 73.3%

A firm that asks how concentrated is lateral hiring by city gets a very different answer in Nashville than in New York. Sartori & Partners data show that the top 10 hiring firms took 73.3% of Nashville's individual lateral hires in the 12 months to October 2026, against 21.5% in New York and 12.9% across the whole market. The gap is not about prestige. It comes from the number of buyers: 34 firms hired a lateral in Nashville over the year, against 310 in New York. In a mid-sized city a handful of firms decide who moves, and a candidate's realistic options are few.

Nashville is the clearest case. The city recorded 116 lateral moves in the 12 months. Counting individual hires, the top 10 of its 34 hiring firms took 73.3%, 5.7 times the market figure. The pattern is not a one-year accident. Across 3 years, only 48 firms hired a lateral in Nashville, against 425 in New York, and the top 10 still took 58.8% of individual hires.

Demand is rising inside that small circle. On the settled 12-month windows, Nashville's lateral moves rose 40.0%, from 80 to 112, while the market rose 9.0%. More hiring by the same few firms means those firms meet each other on almost every search.

The hiring firms are mostly mid-sized platforms. Firms of 400-999 lawyers took 47.8% of the Nashville moves to firms of known size, against 23.4% across the market. Nashville firms also look outside the city: 28.6% of their lateral hires changed city, against 20.5% in the market, a sign that the local bench alone does not meet demand.

For a firm already hiring in Nashville, the rival bidders can be named before the search starts. For a firm entering the city, the task is harder: the lawyers it wants are known to the same small group of firms, and that group has done most of the hiring.

Toronto recorded 138 lateral moves, and its top 10 hirers took 62.0% of individual hires, from a field of 41 firms. Inside that group the hiring is fairly even: the first two firms sit in the 11-20 band of lateral hires and the next five in the 6-10 band.

Toronto is also a closed market. In the Sartori & Partners lateral database, only 15.5% of Toronto hires changed city, against 20.5% across the market, so firms there hire mostly from the local bar. Admission rules for practice in a Canadian province add friction to any move from outside.

Charlotte shows the same shape with a different cause. The city recorded 135 lateral moves; the top 10 of its 43 hiring firms took 54.5% of individual hires, and the work is concentrated as well as the firms. Banking and finance is involved in 45.9% of Charlotte moves, against 13.9% across the market. Unlike Toronto, Charlotte imports talent: 30.9% of its lateral hires came with a change of city.

For a finance practice in Charlotte, both the candidate pool and the set of hiring firms are small. A firm that wants a finance partner there should assume the candidate already knows every serious alternative. In Toronto, the same logic applies to almost any practice, and the pool cannot easily be widened from abroad.

Partner hiring sharpens the pattern. In Nashville, the top 10 partner hirers took 81.8% of individual partner hires, 8.5 points above the city's share for all levels. The firms at the head of that list are Kirkland & Ellis, Bass, Berry & Sims and Spencer Fane. In Miami the step is wider still: 52.2% for partners against 38.4% at all levels, a gap of 13.8 points.

In New York and London the step between levels is smaller. New York's top 10 partner hirers took 26.1% of individual partner hires, 4.6 points above its all-level share; London's took 27.1%, 4.3 points above. Across the whole market the two figures are close, 13.5% against 12.9%.

Part of this is arithmetic. Nashville recorded 33 lateral partner moves in the year, so a firm that hires a handful of partners ranks in its city's top 10, and the share rises almost by construction. That makes it no less real for a candidate. A Nashville partner weighing a move will find that most recent partner hires went to firms on one short list, and a hiring firm outside that list starts behind. Plan for a longer search and a sharper offer.

Miami and Houston are larger and more open. Miami's top 10 hirers took 38.4% of individual hires among 94 hiring firms, in a year of 302 lateral moves; Houston's took 35.4% among 109, with 331 moves. Both figures sit well below Nashville's and well above New York's.

The top of the Miami list is unusual. The first-ranked hirer, Greenberg Traurig, sits in the 41-60 band of lateral hires, and every other firm in the city's top 10 sits in the 6-10 band. A Miami search therefore meets one large bidder very often and a spread of smaller ones.

Houston leans toward the largest platforms. Sartori & Partners figures show firms of 1,000+ lawyers took 58.9% of the Houston moves to firms of known size, against 53.6% across the market. Miami is the opposite at the middle of the range: firms of 150-399 lawyers took 22.3% of Miami moves on the same basis, against 13.3% in the market.

In these two cities a firm outside the top 10 is a real bidder, not an outsider. In Miami that holds especially for a firm of 150-399 lawyers, which competes in a part of the market that is wider there than elsewhere. In Houston, a firm below the largest size class needs a clear reason for a candidate to pass on the big platforms.

In the largest markets the top 10 are a small part of a long list. New York recorded 2,083 lateral moves, and its top 10 took 21.5% of individual hires, from 310 hiring firms, 9.1 times as many firms as Nashville. London's top 10 took 22.8% among 180 firms, and Washington's 19.8% among 194.

Even these cities sit above the market figure of 12.9%, because the market spreads hires across 1,291 firms in every city at once. Seen from inside a single city, concentration is higher than the national number suggests.

For a firm hiring in New York, competition for a candidate is wide but shallow: many firms could make an offer, and no single one sets the terms. A candidate there can test the market, and offers compete on guarantee, platform and role. In Nashville or Charlotte the same candidate has a short list and knows it.

First, size the field before the search. In a city like Nashville, with 34 hiring firms in a year, the realistic rivals for a candidate can be listed by name, and so can the firms the candidate would leave. Approach candidates with a case built on what those few firms cannot offer, not on a general pitch.

Second, treat a partner search in a mid-sized city as a contest with known bidders. Where the top 10 partner hirers took 81.8% of individual partner hires, as in Nashville, a firm outside that group should budget more time and a stronger offer than it would in a large market.

Third, widen the pool where the city allows it. Nashville and Charlotte already bring in many hires from other cities, 28.6% and 30.9% of moves; Toronto does not, at 15.5%. A Nashville or Charlotte search can reasonably reach out of town; a Toronto search mostly cannot.

Fourth, in New York, London and Washington, use the top 10 as a benchmark, not as the competition. With 310 firms hiring in New York, the offer that wins a candidate is as likely to come from a firm outside the list as from one on it.