In Philadelphia Litigation, a Lateral Move Is Often a Step Up

Sartori & Partners data show that the Philadelphia litigation lateral market hands out more step-ups in title than litigation elsewhere. In the 12 months to October 2026, 17.3% of the litigators who joined a Philadelphia firm came in at a higher title than the one they left: an associate who joined as counsel or partner, or a counsel who joined as partner. Across the practice the figure is 13.4%, and across every practice in Philadelphia it is 12.2%. For a firm hiring here, the title on the offer is part of the price. A litigator weighing a move in this city has a better than usual chance of being offered the next rung by a rival.

The gap is 3.9 points against litigation across the practice and 5.1 points against Philadelphia as a whole. Put as a ratio, a Philadelphia litigator was 1.3 times as likely as the average litigator to change title on the way in. The city figure matters because it rules out a simple local habit of generous titles. Litigation is involved in 55.6% of Philadelphia moves, so the city average already contains it, and the other practices in the city step people up less often still. The effect sits in litigation itself. The share rests on 150 moves in 12 months, a small base on which a few moves either way shift the figure by a point or more.

For a hiring partner, the practical reading is that title now competes with pay. A Philadelphia litigator may weigh a rival offer's title as heavily as its compensation, and a firm that will only match the candidate's current title should expect to lose some contests to firms that will not.

Over three years, 13.2% of Philadelphia litigation laterals joined at a higher title, against 13.2% across the practice and 11.5% for Philadelphia as a whole. Two readings follow. Against the city, the edge holds over the longer window: Philadelphia litigators stepped up more often than the city's lawyers in general, by 1.7 points. Against the practice, the edge is recent: over three years the two sit 0.0 points apart, close to nothing. The practice itself barely moved, with a 12-month share of 13.4% beside a three-year share of 13.2%. Philadelphia litigation's latest 12 months, at 17.3%, sit 4.1 points above its own three-year share.

That makes the step-up a feature of the current Philadelphia market rather than a fixed local custom. A firm planning a litigation hire in the city in the coming months should assume that competing offers carry a title bump more often than they did over the past three years, and decide in advance whether it will match one.

In the Sartori & Partners lateral database, associates made up 62.0% of Philadelphia litigation laterals in 12 months, against 57.7% across the practice. Partners were 24.0% against 27.4%, and counsel 14.0% against 14.4%. A partner cannot join at a higher title, so a market with fewer partner moves and more associate moves has more people who are able to step up. That explains only part of the gap. Philadelphia as a whole has almost the same associate share, 61.5%, and a lower step-up share. The level mix makes room for step-ups; it does not hand them out.

For recruiting, the senior associate and counsel tier is where the title question comes up first. An associate interviewing in Philadelphia litigation is the candidate most likely to be holding a counsel or partner offer from another firm, and the offer letter should be written with that in view.

The buyers differ as well. Firms of 1,000+ lawyers hired 33.3% of the Philadelphia litigation laterals whose new firm's size is known, against 43.3% across the practice and 39.6% for all Philadelphia moves. Firms of 150-399 lawyers took 26.8% against 18.2% in the practice, and firms of under 150 lawyers 20.3% against 12.8%. Firms of 400-999 lawyers took 19.6%, against 25.7%. Over three years the largest firms hired 36.6% of Philadelphia litigation laterals, so the latest 12 months, when step-ups were most frequent, also show the biggest platforms with a smaller share than their longer average.

The link is a matter of structure. Large firms tend to bring laterals in at the title their class year sets, while midsize and smaller firms have more freedom to offer counsel or partner to win a candidate. The figures do not tie each step-up to the size of the firm that offered it, but the pattern fits. For a large firm, competing in Philadelphia litigation means facing buyers that can put a better title on the table; holding the line on title can work, but the offer then has to win on platform, work and pay. For a midsize firm, the title is a lever its larger rivals use less often.

72 firms hired at least one Philadelphia litigator in 12 months. The ten most active took 34.3% of individual hires, led by Flaster Greenberg, McNees Wallace & Nurick and Holland & Knight, each in the 6-10 band of hires.

Demand is steady rather than surging. Philadelphia litigation hiring held flat (+11.7%) over the latest settled 12 months, at 153 moves against 137 a year earlier, while litigation across the practice rose 7.5%, from 5,281 to 5,679. Partner hiring in Philadelphia litigation held flat (+6.1%), at 35 against 33. Team moves are a larger slice of the city's litigation market, 4.7% of moves against 2.0% across the practice.

The step-ups are therefore not the product of a sudden scramble for bodies. Candidates are moving at last year's pace, and the firms that win them are those with a title decision ready before the first interview.

Decide on title before you decide on pay. Sartori & Partners data show 17.3% of Philadelphia litigation laterals joined at a higher title in 12 months, so a candidate here has often seen, or soon will see, an offer one rung up. Three steps follow. First, map the candidate's realistic next title at your firm and at the midsize and smaller firms that take most Philadelphia litigation hires. Second, if your firm cannot offer the step, say so early and build the case on platform, work and the path to partner: home-grown partners in Philadelphia litigation took a median of 10.0 years from first year of practice to partner over five years, and a candidate will weigh a lateral title against that clock. Third, recruit in the city: 58.7% of Philadelphia litigation laterals over three years came from a Philadelphia firm, and 20.5% changed city in the latest 12 months, close to the 19.6% across the practice.