Practice by city · November 2026

Private Client & Estates in Chicago: lateral monitor

Lawyers who changed firm in Private Client & Estates in Chicago 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

24
Lateral moves, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
37.5%
Partner share of moves
58
Lateral moves, three yearsThree years to October 2026
02 Reading the data

What the data show

Sartori & Partners data show 24 lateral moves in Private Client & Estates in Chicago from November 2025 to October 2026, 7.3% of the practice's moves.

Private Client & Estates in Chicago against Private Client & Estates, Chicago and the market
MeasureHerePrivate Client & EstatesChicagoMarket
Partner share of moves37.5%32.6%26.8%27.7%
Counsel share of moves (three years)12.1%15.0%10.0%12.1%
Associate share of moves54.2%54.7%61.6%58.5%
Moved up a level (three years)8.6%14.9%9.5%12.3%
Changed city (three years)11.1%28.1%17.9%21.6%
Hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers25.0%18.9%51.2%53.6%
Year on year-flat (+9.1%)flat (+9.7%)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 A dash is a value we do not publish.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 Private Client & Estates practice as a whole, the share who changed city over three years stands out most: 11.1% here against 28.1%, below it. Against all moves in Chicago, the widest gap is the share hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers, which is lower here: 25.0% against 51.2%.

Over the three years to October 2026, 58 lawyers moved in Private Client & Estates in Chicago, 20 of them partners (34.5%). They joined 31 different firms. 8.6% stepped up a level on the move and 11.1% changed city, against 12.3% and 21.6% across the market over the same three years. 52.6% came from firms with 1,000+ lawyers.

At 37.5%, the partner share of arrivals sits above the market's 27.7%.

25.0% of arrivals went to firms with 1,000+ lawyers, against 53.6% market-wide.

The practice accounts for 4.0% of all lateral moves in Chicago. Over the three years to October 2026, 69.0% of movers came from another firm in Chicago itself.

03 Specialities

Specialities in Private Client & Estates in Chicago

Over the three years to October 2026, Estate Planning was involved in 74.1% of moves in Private Client & Estates in Chicago, then Trusts & Estate Administration with 58.6%.

Share of moves involving each speciality, three years to October 2026

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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