Litigation Laterals in 2026: Midsize Firms Take a Bigger Share

Litigation lateral hiring runs through a different set of buyers than the rest of the legal market. Sartori & Partners data show 5,629 litigators joining a new law firm in the 12 months to October 2026, 39.9% of every lateral move we track and more than any other practice. Where they landed is the finding. Firms of 1,000+ lawyers took 43.3% of litigation moves, against 53.6% across the market. Firms of 150-399 lawyers took 18.2% and firms under 150 lawyers 12.8%, against 13.3% and 9.7% market-wide. For a firm planning its next litigation hire, the rival offer often comes from below the largest platforms, not only from a peer.

In litigation, the largest firms do not take most of the laterals. Firms of 1,000+ lawyers took 43.3% of litigation moves with a known firm size, 10.3 points below their 53.6% share of the whole market. The difference moved down the size scale rather than into the next class. Firms of 400-999 lawyers sit close to the market, at 25.7% against 23.4%. The two smaller classes carry the gap: together they took 31% of litigation laterals, against 23% for all practices.

The neighboring practices show the same pull, at different strengths. Employment and labor, which overlaps with 22.4% of litigation moves, sends 46.9% of its laterals to firms of 1,000+ lawyers, between litigation and the market. Product liability and torts goes further: 40.7% to the largest class and 23.2% to firms of 150-399 lawyers. Defense work priced by the matter and run from regional offices suits firms that are not global platforms, and the hiring follows that work.

For a firm of 1,000+ lawyers, this changes the shape of a litigation offer. The alternative a candidate weighs is often a midsize firm with lower rates, a shorter path to equity and more control over a book of cases. Firms of 150-399 lawyers took 18.2% of litigation laterals, against 13.3% across all practices. A large firm that prices only against its peers will misread why it loses finalists.

Sartori & Partners counted 928 firms that hired litigation laterals in the 12 months to October 2026, 71.9% of the 1,291 firms that hired in any practice. The top 10 litigation hirers took 12.0% of the practice's moves, close to the 12.9% the top 10 take across the whole market. Set against the practices nearest to litigation, that is low. The top 10 take 30.0% in employment and labor and 30.0% in product liability and torts, both about 2.5 times the litigation figure. Partner hiring is no more concentrated: the top 10 took 13.9% of litigation partner moves, against 13.5% market-wide.

The busiest litigation hirer sits in the 101-150 band, against 251-400 for the busiest hirer across all practices. A fragmented market cuts both ways for a hiring firm. Candidates have many doors open, so a slow process loses people to firms the search never treated as rivals. No single competitor can set the price either, so a firm with a clear case for the candidate's practice can win at any size.

Volume rose, but not at the top of the ladder. In the settled 12-month window to September 2026, litigation laterals rose 7.5%, from 5,281 to 5,679. Partner moves went from 1,492 to 1,505, a change of 0.9% that we read as flat. Across all practices, partner moves rose 8.4% and total moves 9.0%. The growth in litigation came below partner level: moves other than partner moves went from 3,789 to 4,174.

The neighbors are flat too. Employment and labor partner moves went from 310 to 333, a flat change on a small base, and product liability and torts partner moves were also flat, at 282 and then 268. The level mix over the last 12 months stays close to the market's: partners are 27.4% of litigation moves against 27.7%, counsel 14.4% against 12.7%, and associates 57.7% against 58.5%. For a firm hiring a litigation partner, a flat pool inside a growing market means more bidders per mover. Start partner searches earlier than associate searches, and expect the shortlist to include people who are not yet looking.

City figures point the same way as firm size: litigation hiring leans toward large U.S. markets outside the two global centers. In the Sartori & Partners lateral database, Los Angeles took 7.5% of litigation moves against 5.1% of all moves. On our index, where one hundred means the same share as the whole market, Los Angeles reads 148, Miami 135 and Dallas 131. New York is still the largest single city for litigators, at 13.0%, yet that is below its 14.8% share of the market. London took 4.3% of litigation moves against 9.2% market-wide, an index of 47.

A litigation search run only from New York or London will miss much of the movement. Philadelphia, at an index of 141, belongs on the same list as Los Angeles, Miami and Dallas. A firm building a trial bench should map those four markets before it widens the search abroad.

Plan the search around who actually hires. Most litigation laterals, 56.7%, joined firms outside the 1,000+ lawyers class. A large firm should treat midsize and regional firms as direct rivals for every litigation candidate, and build the offer around what those firms sell: rate flexibility, case control and a credible path to equity.

Retention is the other side of the same number. Across all practices, the median firm of 1,000+ lawyers sees 14.8% of its lawyers leave each year, against 11.9% at firms of 150-399 lawyers. For a midsize firm, the larger platforms are a source of litigators, not only a competitor: the people most likely to move are already sitting in their benches.

Three working rules follow from Sartori & Partners figures. Move fast, because with 928 firms hiring, a candidate who waits has other offers. Open partner searches early, because partner volume is flat while associate and counsel moves grow. And search beyond New York and London: Los Angeles, Dallas, Miami and Philadelphia all take a larger share of litigation laterals than of the market.