New York Projects Hiring 2026: Partners Take 44.3% of Lateral Moves

Sartori & Partners data show that partners made up 44.3% of lateral moves in New York projects and infrastructure over the 12 months to October 2026, against 28.3% for New York as a whole. The market for project finance lawyers New York firms recruit from is a partner market first: 27 partners and 30 associates moved, out of 61 lateral moves in total. The figures come from public law-firm announcements, firm websites and professional profiles, checked monthly.

The partner share in this cell is 1.6 times the share for New York across all practices, where associates carry most of the flow at 58.4% of moves. In projects and infrastructure, associates were 49.2%. Against the practice as a whole the gap narrows: partners were 38.6% of the practice's moves in every country it is recorded, so New York runs 5.7 points above the practice and far above its own city.

The tilt is not a one-year accident. Over 3 years, partners were 37.7% of the cell's 146 moves, against 28.1% for New York. The 12-month share sits above the cell's own 3-year share, so the lean toward partners has sharpened rather than faded. Counsel moves are too few to publish over 12 months; over 3 years they were 8.2% of moves, a rough size, against 12.3% citywide. Title step-ups are uncommon: 11.5% of moves came with a higher title, in line with the city's 11.6% and below the practice's 15.1%.

For a firm building a New York projects group, the people who move are mostly sitting partners with portable relationships, not senior associates chasing a title. Budget and plan the timetable for a partner search, and expect a thinner junior flow than the city's figures suggest.

The second feature is where these lawyers land. Firms of 1,000+ lawyers took 90.2% of New York projects and infrastructure moves over 12 months, against 62.6% for New York overall and 71.1% across the practice. Each smaller size class is too small to publish for the cell over the same window.

The 3-year view points the same way: 80.1% of the cell's moves went to the largest class, against 59.9% for the city. Supply mirrors demand. Over 3 years, 81.2% of the cell's lateral lawyers left firms of 1,000+ lawyers, against 63.2% for New York. Project finance runs on lender relationships, multi-office teams and deep conflict checks, and the hiring follows that shape.

A firm outside the 1,000+ lawyers class that wants a New York projects partner is bidding against platforms that hire almost all of this market. It needs a specific case for why the partner's practice works better on its platform: fewer conflicts, rate room for sponsor clients, or a sector the larger firm does not cover.

Hiring sits in few hands. In the Sartori & Partners lateral database, 32 firms made the cell's 61 moves in 12 months, and the top 10 hirers took 57.4% of individual hires. For New York as a whole the top 10 share was 21.5%; across the practice it was 27.4%.

Cooley heads the 12-month list in the 6-10 band, and every other named firm sits in the 3-5 band. Over 3 years the order shifts: Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe ranks first, in the 11-20 band. With a short list of buyers, a candidate's move is visible early, so a firm outside this group should approach quietly and decide fast once a partner is in play.

The deal record explains the demand. Sartori & Partners data count 590 dated New York projects and infrastructure deals over 3 years, 230 of them in the last 12 months. Project and infrastructure finance was the deal type on 74.2% of them, far ahead of banking and lending at 7.8% and M&A at 6.9%.

Power and renewables clients appear on 53.6% of the deals, 5.4 times the share of oil and gas at 10.0%. The movers match the work: over 3 years, 47.9% of the cell's lateral lawyers list project finance as their own focus, against 17.8% for project development.

Milbank advised on the most deals, in the 61-100 band, and also ranks 2nd among the cell's hirers. A firm that wants New York projects partners should be able to show renewable power deal flow, because that is what the candidates' practices are built on. A partner whose book sits in oil and gas or public-sector infrastructure comes from a smaller pool.

The flow is steady rather than growing. The cell recorded 60 moves in the settled 12 months to September 2026 against 46 a year earlier, a gap that reads as flat at counts this small. The practice was flat as well, at 537 against 530, while New York across all practices rose 11.9%, to 2,084 from 1,862.

New York also carries less of this practice than of the wider market. The city took 11.7% of the practice's moves, an index of 79 against the market's own share, while Houston scored 409 and London 147. Movers here travel further than the city's average: 16.7% changed city, against 10.9% for New York and 22.3% across the practice.

With a small, steady flow, a New York projects search turns on timing more than volume. The local pool turns over slowly, so a brief limited to Manhattan offices will be short; partners in other cities willing to relocate belong on the list from the start.

Plan a New York projects hire as a partner hire: partners were 44.3% of the moves, and the associate flow is thinner than the city's. Expect to compete with the largest platforms, which took 90.2% of moves; a smaller firm needs a case built on conflicts, rates or a sector the giants leave open. Follow the power work, since renewable power clients sit on 53.6% of the cell's deals and the busiest hirers overlap with the busiest deal advisers. Build the long list wide, because the yearly flow is small and a fair part of it comes from other cities. A firm that hears of a New York projects partner in play should be ready to meet the same week.