Practice by city · November 2026

Litigation & Disputes in Portland: lateral monitor

Lawyers who changed firm in Litigation & Disputes in Portland over the last 12 months, set against the practice and the city as a whole.

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01 The numbers

The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026

33
Lateral moves, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
-22.9%
Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
18.2%
Partner share of moves
20
Firms that hired
02 Reading the data

What the data show

Sartori & Partners data show 33 lateral moves in Litigation & Disputes in Portland from November 2025 to October 2026, 0.6% of the practice's moves. On settled windows the count went from 48 to 37 (-22.9%), a change inside the noise of the two counts, so we read it as flat.

Litigation & Disputes in Portland against Litigation & Disputes, Portland and the market
MeasureHereLitigation & DisputesPortlandMarket
Partner share of moves18.2%27.4%20.3%27.7%
Counsel share of moves33.3%14.4%27.1%12.7%
Associate share of moves48.5%57.7%52.5%58.5%
Moved up a level18.2%13.4%13.6%12.9%
Changed city36.0%19.6%37.0%20.5%
Hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers25.8%43.3%21.1%53.6%
Year on yearflat (-22.9%)rose (+7.5%)flat (-12.7%)rose (+9.0%)

12 months to October 2026 unless the row says three years; a row switches to three years for every column when this page's 12-month value is not published. A dash is a value we do not publish. Flat means a change under 5% or inside the noise of the two counts.

Set against the Litigation & Disputes practice as a whole, the counsel share stands out most: 33.3% here against 14.4%, above it. Set against all moves in Portland, the counsel share stands out most: 33.3% here against 27.1%, above it. Year on year it held flat while the Litigation & Disputes practice as a whole rose.

Litigation & Disputes in Portland: lateral moves by year

2026 runs to October.

Over the three years to October 2026, 121 lawyers moved in Litigation & Disputes in Portland, 37 of them partners (30.6%). They joined 34 different firms. 14.9% stepped up a level on the move and 26.8% changed city, against 12.3% and 21.6% across the market over the same three years. 42.2% came from firms with 1,000+ lawyers.

At 18.2%, partners are a smaller slice of arrivals than in the market as a whole (27.7%). A step up in title came with 18.2% of moves (market 12.9%).

The 12-month firm table is below our naming threshold, so this part reads the three years to October 2026. Lateral hires in Litigation & Disputes in Portland were spread across 34 firms. The ten firms at the head of the hiring table took 58.0% of arrivals (12.2% market-wide), so hiring here is concentrated. First on the hiring table is Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker, with arrivals in the 6-10 band.

The practice accounts for 55.9% of all lateral moves in Portland. Over the three years to October 2026, 58.7% of movers came from another firm in Portland itself. 36.0% of movers also changed city, against 20.5% market-wide.

For a firm planning a hire in Litigation & Disputes in Portland, a flat market means candidates are not being pulled by a wave: the case for a move has to come from the platform.

03 Firms

Firms by rank and band

Each firm appears as a rank and a band, never an exact count, and only with at least 10 moves in the window.

Firms ranked by lateral arrivals, three years to October 2026
RankFirmMoves (band)
1Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker6-10
2Miller Nash6-10
3Fisher & Phillips6-10
4Buchalter6-10
5Epstein Becker & Green3-5
6Stoel Rives3-5
7Littler Mendelson3-5
8Ashurst Perkins Coie3-5
9Davis Wright Tremaine3-5
10Ballard Spahr3-5
04 Promotions

Time to partner in Litigation & Disputes in Portland

36 lawyers were promoted to partner in Litigation & Disputes in Portland over five years, according to Sartori & Partners data.

The median time from first year of practice to partner is 10.0 years, with the middle half between 8.0 years and 12.2 years, against a market median of 10.0 years. 75.0% made partner within 12 years.

These figures rest on 36 promotions.

Years from first year of practice to partner
05 Specialities

Specialities in Litigation & Disputes in Portland

Over the three years to October 2026, Commercial Litigation was involved in 37.2% of moves in Litigation & Disputes in Portland.

Edition November 2026. Window: November 2025 to October 2026. Source: Sartori & Partners, from public law-firm announcements, firm websites and professional profiles, checked monthly. Methodology. Spot an error? [email protected].

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