Chicago Litigation Partner Moves Fell While the Market Held Flat

Sartori & Partners data show that the Chicago litigation partner lateral market contracted while everything around it held steady. Lateral partner moves in Chicago litigation fell from 84 to 63 in the 12 months to September 2026, a drop of 25.0%. Litigation moves at every level in the city were flat over the same windows, at 247 against 264. Litigation partners across the market and Chicago partners in every practice were flat too. Promotion runs on its own calendar: 70 Chicago litigators were made partner in the 12 months to May 2026. For a firm that wants a litigation partner in Chicago, fewer are crossing between firms, and promotion is a large part of how the local bench is built.

The fall belongs to one cell. Across the market, litigation partner hiring held flat (+0.9%), at 1,505 against 1,492. Chicago partner moves in every practice held flat (-2.5%), at 159 against 163. Set against those two yardsticks, Chicago litigation partner moves fell 25.0%. In the Sartori & Partners lateral database the comparison windows run October to September, so the newest month, whose start dates are still being confirmed, stays out of the change.

Litigation is still the main source of partner moves in the city. It was involved in 41.2% of Chicago partner moves in the 12 months to October 2026, an index of 104 against the market, far ahead of corporate and M&A at 21.2%.

The calendar years put the drop in context. Partner moves in Chicago litigation reached 85 in 2025, the highest year in the series since 2022, after 63 in 2024; 2026 stands at 60 through October. The settled window that fell is measured against a peak, not against an average year. For a hiring partner the practical point is volume: the number of Chicago litigation partners who actually changed firms is down, even while the practice and the city held steady, so a search should plan on a smaller flow of movers.

Count all levels and Chicago litigation held flat (-6.4%), with 247 moves against 264. Litigation across the market rose 7.5%, from 5,281 to 5,679. All Chicago lateral hiring held flat (+9.7%), at 601 against 548. The Chicago litigation market kept its volume while its partner layer thinned.

The level mix shows where the volume went. Partners were 26.9% of Chicago litigation moves in the 12 months to October 2026, against 29.0% over 3 years. Associates were 63.3%, against 57.7% for the practice as a whole and 61.6% for Chicago in every practice. Counsel moves were thinner in Chicago litigation, at 9.4% against 14.4% across the practice.

For a firm building a Chicago litigation group, the associate market is the deep one this year. A team can be grown from the associate level now, while the partner who leads it may take a longer search or come from inside the firm.

Promotion figures run on a different window: June 2025 to May 2026, the last complete 12 months, five months earlier than the lateral window. In that window 70 Chicago litigators were promoted to partner, 48.3% of the 145 partner promotions in Chicago across every practice. Across the market, litigation was involved in 41.3% of partner promotions, 1,221 of 2,955. Litigation weighs more in Chicago's promotion rounds than it does in promotions across the market.

The same-window balance of promotion against hiring is published for the city and the practice. Chicago promoted 0.94 partners for every lateral partner it hired, against 0.80 for litigation across the market and 0.79 for the whole market. Chicago firms lean on promotion more than the practice does. A lateral offer to a Chicago litigation counsel or senior associate can be competing with a partnership the candidate already expects at home, and the offer has to be priced and timed against that.

Over 5 years of promotions, 25.7% of Chicago litigators made partner within 8 years of starting practice, against 21.1% for litigation across the market. The median is 10.0 years for both. The gap sits in the slow tail: the slowest quarter of Chicago litigators took 11.0 years or more, against 13.0 years for the practice, and 83.9% were partners within 12 years, against 74.6%.

The practice figure mixes countries that date the first year of practice differently, so the like-for-like yardstick is Chicago itself. Sartori & Partners data put Chicago lawyers in every practice at 28.7% within 8 years, so litigation in the city runs 3.0 points slower on that measure. The middle half of Chicago litigation promotions landed between 8.0 years and 11.0 years of practice. Candidates in that bracket weigh any lateral approach against a promotion that is close, which is where an offer needs a clear partnership date.

At every level, the top 10 hirers took 22.1% of individual Chicago litigation hires over 12 months, against 12.0% for litigation across the market and 21.2% for Chicago in every practice. Over 3 years the figure was 22.2%, so the concentration is not a one-year effect. In all, 112 firms hired at least one Chicago litigator in 12 months, against 148 hiring in Chicago across practices. The list below names the firms that hired the most Chicago litigation partners over 3 years.

Hiring in the cell runs through a tighter group of firms than litigation does nationally, so a firm entering the Chicago litigation partner market competes with a small group of regular buyers, and a partner who is open to a move is likely to hear from several of them. With partner moves down, those buyers are now chasing a smaller pool.

Plan on a thin flow. The latest settled year counted 63 Chicago litigation partner moves, against 84 the year before, while the city's partner market and the practice held steady. A target list for a Chicago litigation partner will be shorter than the size of the city's litigation bar suggests, and the search should start earlier.

Treat promotion as the competing offer. With 70 Chicago litigators made partner from June 2025 to May 2026 and the city promoting 0.94 partners per lateral partner hired, a strong senior candidate often has a path at home. Approach lawyers in the bracket where Chicago litigators make partner, and put the partnership terms in writing early. Finally, use the deep associate market: associates were 63.3% of Chicago litigation moves, so a group can be staffed below partner level while the partner search runs.