Washington Antitrust Hiring Held Flat While the City Grew 12.4%

For firms that recruit antitrust lawyers Washington DC remains a deep market, but this year it was not a growing one. Sartori & Partners data show Washington antitrust lateral hiring held flat (-23.9%): 51 moves in the settled 12 months to September 2026, against 67 in the 12 months before. Over the same windows, hiring across every Washington practice rose 12.4%, and antitrust hiring in New York rose 42.9%. The city added lawyers; its antitrust bench did not. For a firm planning an antitrust hire in Washington, that gap shapes the search more than any headline count.

Washington as a whole had a strong year. Lateral moves into the city reached 761 in the settled window, against 677 a year earlier, and partner hiring in the city rose 18.2%. Antitrust did not share in it. The gap between 51 and 67 looks large in percentage terms, but on counts this small chance alone can produce it, so the honest reading is steady, not a decline.

The practice itself gives no lift either: antitrust lateral hiring across all markets held flat (+7.7%), 393 moves against 365. Antitrust made up 6.5% of Washington's lateral moves over 12 months. When the rest of the city is hiring harder and antitrust is not, the firms adding litigators and regulatory lawyers around Washington antitrust groups are competing for the same senior people with bigger budgets for growth. Expect Washington antitrust candidates to hear from several of them at once.

The sharper contrast is with the other big American antitrust market. New York antitrust hiring went from 42 moves to 60 on the settled windows, a change of +42.9% that is large enough to read as a real rise. Over 3 years Washington still counts more antitrust arrivals, 170 against 159 in New York. Over the latest 12 months the order flipped: New York holds 16.2% of antitrust lateral moves and Washington 12.5%.

The yearly series tells the same story at a slower pace. Washington antitrust moves peaked at 65 in 2024 and counted 57 in 2025. New York climbed every year, from 30 in 2022 to 48 in 2025, with 59 already in the first ten months of 2026. A firm that hires antitrust lawyers in both cities should expect more candidates in play in New York this year, and should not assume a Washington search will surface the same volume.

Flat does not mean small. In the Sartori & Partners lateral database, Washington took 12.5% of antitrust lateral moves over 12 months, an index of 223 against its share of all lateral moves. New York, with the larger antitrust count, sits at an index of 110, because its overall market is far bigger. Among the cities listed, only Brussels, the seat of European competition enforcement, over-indexes more, at 1,258.

The concentration of antitrust work in Washington, close to the federal agencies and the courts that hear merger challenges, keeps the market deep even in a level year. For a hiring firm that is useful: a flat market with a deep bench means candidates exist, but they are not moving faster than before, so a search has to create the reason to move rather than wait for one.

What the Washington bench lacks in growth it makes up in seniority. Partners made up 52.9% of Washington antitrust lateral moves over 12 months, against 32.4% across the practice, 37.7% across all Washington practices and 43.9% in New York antitrust. Associates made up 41.2%, against 55.0% across the practice.

The partner count is steady too: 25 partner moves in the settled window against 22 a year earlier, a change the counts leave flat. Over 3 years the partner share was lower, 38.8% of 170 arrivals, so the tilt to partners is recent. With associate moves the smaller part of the market, a firm that wants to build a Washington antitrust team from the middle up will find fewer mid-level candidates in motion than the practice average suggests, and should plan to train or promote its own.

Washington antitrust lawyers rarely come from elsewhere. Sartori & Partners figures show only 4.9% of Washington antitrust arrivals over 3 years also changed city, against 21.4% across the practice, 15.6% across all Washington practices and 7.6% in New York antitrust. Over 3 years, 79.4% of all Washington antitrust arrivals came from Washington firms.

The moves also stay inside the largest platforms. Firms of 1,000+ lawyers took 75.1% of Washington antitrust arrivals over 3 years, and the same size class supplied 78.0% of the lawyers who moved. A firm that hopes to import antitrust talent from another city is working against the grain; the realistic pool is the lawyers already practicing at Washington firms.

The deal record shows what that bench does. Of the 290 Washington antitrust matters on record over 3 years, disputes and investigations made up 49.7% and regulatory and antitrust matters 32.4%. New York antitrust shows a similar split, 48.4% against 35.1%. The lawyers tell a different story: merger control was the focus of 42.4% of Washington antitrust movers, against 27.0% in New York, while antitrust litigation took 54.1% in Washington and 54.1% in New York.

Disputes reach public court records more readily than merger reviews do, so the split favors litigation partly by how matters come to light. Even so, the mix matters for a hire. Washington is where merger control specialists cluster, yet the matters on record lean to litigation, so a candidate who can do both is worth more here than in New York. Technology and software clients appear on 14.1% of Washington antitrust matters, the largest client industry on record.

Plan on a level market, not a rising one. Washington antitrust hiring sat at 51 moves against 67, a flat reading, while the city around it grew and New York antitrust pulled ahead. Candidates will not come to market on their own pace; a firm has to approach them, and should budget time for that.

Recruit partners from Washington firms. With partners at 52.9% of moves and arrivals from other cities at 4.9%, the pool is senior and already in the city. Map the antitrust partners at the large Washington platforms, and test each for both merger control and litigation experience, since the work on record leans to disputes. For associate depth, look to promotion and training, because associates are a smaller part of Washington antitrust moves than of the practice.