Practice by city · November 2026
Litigation & Disputes in Raleigh: lateral monitor
Lawyers who changed firm in Litigation & Disputes in Raleigh over the last 12 months, set against the practice and the city as a whole.
The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026
- 37
- Lateral moves, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- +71.4%
- Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
- 16.2%
- Partner share of moves
- 21
- Firms that hired
What the data show
Sartori & Partners data show 37 lateral moves in Litigation & Disputes in Raleigh from November 2025 to October 2026, 0.7% of the practice's moves. On settled windows the count went from 21 to 36, up 71.4% year on year. It outpaced the market's own change of +9.0%.
| Measure | Here | Litigation & Disputes | Raleigh | Market |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Partner share of moves | 16.2% | 27.4% | 18.9% | 27.7% |
| Counsel share of moves | 16.2% | 14.4% | 17.6% | 12.7% |
| Associate share of moves | 67.6% | 57.7% | 63.5% | 58.5% |
| Moved up a level | 21.6% | 13.4% | 17.6% | 12.9% |
| Changed city | 27.3% | 19.6% | 32.2% | 20.5% |
| Hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers | 30.6% | 43.3% | 37.5% | 53.6% |
| Year on year | rose (+71.4%) | rose (+7.5%) | rose (+80.0%) | 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 A dash is a value we do not publish.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 share hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers stands out most: 30.6% here against 43.3%, below it. Against all moves in Raleigh, the widest gap is the share hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers, which is lower here: 30.6% against 37.5%. Year on year it moved with the Litigation & Disputes practice as a whole: both rose.
Over the three years to October 2026, 83 lawyers moved in Litigation & Disputes in Raleigh. They joined 31 different firms. 12.0% stepped up a level on the move and 35.6% changed city, against 12.3% and 21.6% across the market over the same three years. 35.3% came from firms with 1,000+ lawyers.
- Partner16.2%
- Counsel16.2%
- Associate67.6%
At 16.2%, partners are a smaller slice of arrivals than in the market as a whole (27.7%). 21.6% of movers stepped up a level when they changed firm, against 12.9% for the market.
- 1,000+ lawyers30.6%
- 400-999 lawyers13.9%
- 150-399 lawyers27.8%
- under 150 lawyers27.8%
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 Raleigh were spread across 31 firms. The ten firms at the head of the hiring table took 65.9% of arrivals (12.2% market-wide), so hiring here is concentrated. Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Mitchell & Jernigan ranks first by lateral arrivals, in the 11-20 band.
- 1,000+ lawyers35.3%
- 400-999 lawyers19.6%
- 150-399 lawyers33.3%
- under 150 lawyers11.8%
The practice accounts for 50.0% of all lateral moves in Raleigh. Over the three years to October 2026, 56.6% of movers came from another firm in Raleigh itself. A change of city came with 27.3% of moves (market 20.5%).
A rising, associate-led flow in Litigation & Disputes in Raleigh favors firms that build teams from below; a partner search here needs a longer runway.
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.
| Rank | Firm | Moves (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Mitchell & Jernigan | 11-20 |
| 2 | Womble Bond Dickinson | 6-10 |
| 3 | Phelps Dunbar | 3-5 |
| 4 | Wood, Smith, Henning & Berman | 3-5 |
| 5 | Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz | 3-5 |
| 6 | Barnes & Thornburg | 3-5 |
| 7 | Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein | 3-5 |
| 8 | Williams, Mullen | 3-5 |
| 9 | Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani | 3-5 |
Time to partner in Litigation & Disputes in Raleigh
24 lawyers were promoted to partner in Litigation & Disputes in Raleigh over five years, according to Sartori & Partners data.
The median time from first year of practice to partner is 9.0 years, with the middle half between 8.0 years and 10.0 years, against a market median of 10.0 years. 87.0% made partner within 12 years.
These figures rest on 23 promotions.
Specialities in Litigation & Disputes in Raleigh
Over the three years to October 2026, Commercial Litigation was involved in 45.8% of moves in Litigation & Disputes in Raleigh.
Related monitors and reports
Up one level
Litigation & Disputes in other cities
- New York
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- Washington, DC
- Chicago
- London
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- Dallas
- Miami
- Philadelphia
- Houston
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- Boston
- Seattle
- Denver
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- Minneapolis
- Paris
- Nashville
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- Toronto
- Manchester
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- Detroit
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- Cleveland
- Phoenix
- Dubai
- Bristol
- Orlando
- Pittsburgh
- Portland
- New Orleans
- Wilmington
- Amsterdam
- Montreal
- St. Louis
- Brussels
- Newark
- Melbourne
- Sacramento
- Indianapolis
- Columbus
- Brisbane
- Calgary
- Leeds
- Kansas City
- Jacksonville
- Las Vegas
Hiring in this market
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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