Practice monitor · November 2026
Private Equity: lateral market monitor
Lawyers who changed firm in Private Equity over the last 12 months: how many, at what level, where they went and which firms hired them.
The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026
- 1,247
- Lateral moves, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- +14.9%
- Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
- 38.1%
- Partner share of moves
- 280
- Firms that hired
What the data show
Sartori & Partners data show 1,247 lateral moves in Private Equity from November 2025 to October 2026, 8.8% of all lateral moves we tracked. On settled windows the count went from 1,092 to 1,255, up 14.9% year on year. That runs ahead of the wider market, which moved +9.0%.
Partners make up 38.1% of arrivals, against 27.7% across the market: a partner-heavy flow. Measured on settled 12-month windows, 469 partner moves against 404 the year before, partner moves alone rose 16.1%. A step up in title came with 14.2% of moves (market 12.9%).
Latest: 90 in Oct 26
Show the numbers
| Month | Value |
|---|---|
| Nov 24 | 76 |
| Dec 24 | 35 |
| Jan 25 | 143 |
| Feb 25 | 90 |
| Mar 25 | 93 |
| Apr 25 | 78 |
| May 25 | 88 |
| Jun 25 | 83 |
| Jul 25 | 79 |
| Aug 25 | 83 |
| Sep 25 | 134 |
| Oct 25 | 98 |
| Nov 25 | 89 |
| Dec 25 | 38 |
| Jan 26 | 110 |
| Feb 26 | 117 |
| Mar 26 | 129 |
| Apr 26 | 106 |
| May 26 | 118 |
| Jun 26 | 113 |
| Jul 26 | 103 |
| Aug 26 | 92 |
| Sep 26 | 142 |
| Oct 26 | 90 |
The newest months read low: start dates are confirmed with a delay.
Lateral hires in Private Equity were spread across 280 firms. Ten firms account for 27.0% of arrivals, against 12.9% across the market: moderately concentrated. First on the hiring table is Kirkland & Ellis, with arrivals in the 41-60 band.
- Partner38.1%
- Counsel11.2%
- Associate50.1%
By city, New York comes first (18.1% of arrivals), then London (13.2%). 21.1% of movers also changed city, against 20.5% market-wide.
Over the last 6 months, 75 lawyers left for an in-house role: 11.4 for every 100 lateral moves, against 13.1 market-wide.
A firm recruiting in Private Equity is buying into a rising, partner-heavy flow, so the strongest candidates will hear from more than one firm.
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 | Kirkland & Ellis | 41-60 |
| 2 | Latham & Watkins | 41-60 |
| 3 | Simpson Thacher & Bartlett | 41-60 |
| 4 | DLA Piper | 21-40 |
| 5 | White & Case | 21-40 |
| 6 | Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher | 21-40 |
| 7 | Greenberg Traurig | 21-40 |
| 8 | Ropes & Gray | 21-40 |
| 9 | Weil Gotshal & Manges | 21-40 |
| 10 | Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld | 21-40 |
| Rank | Firm | Moves (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | White & Case | 11-20 |
| 2 | Simpson Thacher & Bartlett | 11-20 |
| 3 | Kirkland & Ellis | 11-20 |
| 4 | DLA Piper | 11-20 |
| 5 | Greenberg Traurig | 11-20 |
| 6 | Willkie Farr & Gallagher | 11-20 |
| 7 | Weil Gotshal & Manges | 11-20 |
| 8 | Holland & Knight | 6-10 |
| 9 | Latham & Watkins | 6-10 |
| 10 | Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld | 6-10 |
Related monitors and reports
Private Equity by city
- New York226 moves
- London165 moves
- Chicago75 moves
- Paris50 moves
- Los Angeles41 moves
- Houston37 moves
- Boston36 moves
- Washington, DC36 moves
- Dallas35 moves
- Munich29 moves
- San Francisco27 moves
- Miami23 moves
- Frankfurt21 moves
- Milan21 moves
Specialities in Private Equity
Related monitors
Other practices
- Litigation & Disputes
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- Public Law & Government
- Pensions, Benefits & Executive Compensation
- Financial Services Regulatory
- International Arbitration & Public International Law
- Immigration
- Commercial Contracts
- International Trade & National Security
- Shipping & Maritime
- Family
Overlapping practices
- Corporate & M&A89.3% overlap
- Banking & Finance13.6% overlap
- Funds & Investment Management12.7% overlap
- Capital Markets7.6% overlap
- Tax6.1% overlap
- Real Estate5.6% overlap
- Projects & Infrastructure3.2% overlap
- Restructuring & Insolvency2.9% overlap
Hiring in this market
Reports
- Chicago Private Equity Partner Track: 47.3% Within 8 Years
Chicago private equity promotes a larger share of its partners early than Chicago as a whole, New York private equity or the practice across the market. Lateral private equity hiring in Chicago rose 56.5% while the city's hiring held flat (+9.7%).
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - London Private Equity Lateral Market 2026: The Largest Firms Hire
83.5% of London private equity laterals join firms of 1,000+ lawyers, against 71.6% for the practice as a whole and 68.5% for London. Over three years those firms took in 84.5% of these laterals and supplied 77.3%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - New York Private Equity Hiring: Counsel Take 18.6% of Laterals
Counsel made 18.6% of New York private equity lateral moves over 12 months, against 11.2% for the practice as a whole and 12.6% across New York. Total moves rose 22.8%, to 232 from 189, while partner moves held steady at 88 against 88.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Private Equity Deals in 2026: Partner Hiring Outpaces Sponsor Work
Private equity deal counts rose 10.4% year on year, and lateral partner hiring in the practice rose 16.1%. Firms are adding sponsor partners faster than sponsor deals grow, in a book where financial sponsors are the client on 83.9% of deals.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Private Equity Lateral Hiring in 2026: Partner-Heavy and Concentrated
Partners are 38.1% of private equity laterals against 27.7% across the market, and the top 10 hirers take 27.0% of all moves, 2.1 times the market's concentration.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Private Equity Law Firms in Paris: A Short List Does the Hiring
22 firms hired private equity lawyers in Paris over 12 months, yet the ten most active took 72.0% of the moves, against 27.0% across the practice and 41.5% across Paris. Firms of 1,000+ lawyers took 89.8%, and volume held flat.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Private Equity Path to Partner: Fastest Clock, Bought Partners
Private equity has the shortest road to partner of any practice we track, a mean of 9.8 years against 11.1 years. It still promotes only 0.68 partners for each lateral partner it hires, against 0.79 market-wide, and its lateral partner hiring rose 16.1%.
November 11, 2026 · November 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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