Partner promotions and time to partner

Reports

• Banking Partner Track by US City: Chicago Runs Fast, DC Runs Slow

  Chicago finance lawyers made partner within 12 years 89.2% of the time, against 59.5% in Washington, DC and 73.6% in New York. For banking associates, the city sets how long the wait can run.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Corporate Partner Track: Los Angeles and San Francisco Beat New York

  Corporate lawyers in Los Angeles and San Francisco made partner within 8 years 31.8% and 31.1% of the time, against 25.4% in New York, the largest corporate bench. On the coasts' second markets the deal clock runs faster, and Chicago runs faster still.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Counsel Hiring by Practice and City: Pensions 19.8%, Corporate 11.3%

  Counsel made 19.8% of lateral moves in pensions and benefits and 19.5% in environment, against 11.3% in corporate and 12.7% across the market. By city the share ran from 23.8% in Cleveland to 8.6% in Nashville: the counsel title travels unevenly.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Counsel Promotion Calendar 2026: Midyear Belongs to Counsel

  Firms name more counsel than partners at midyear (204 against 135 in July 2025) and almost no counsel in the October partner round. For a firm hiring at counsel level, the summer is the date that matters.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Employment Law Partner Track by City 2026: Dallas Fast, Boston Slow

  Employment lawyers in Dallas made partner within 12 years 92.0% of the time, against 58.1% in Boston, and in Los Angeles, the largest employment bench, only 9.5% made it within 8 years: the practice's slow clock is a coastal one.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Fastest Legal Specialities to Make Partner: The Deal-Side Track

  The quickest route to partnership runs through deal work. Growth and minority investment lawyers were named within 8 years 37.4% of the time against 23.2% market-wide, and buyouts and private M&A share a median of 9.0 years.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• How Long to Make Partner in New York? Tax Sets the Slowest Clock

  New York's practices run on clocks far apart: 63.6% of tax partners made it within 12 years, against 73.2% for the city. The practice an associate joins decides the wait more than the city does.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Inside Tax, the Speciality Sets the Clock to Partner

  Tax as a practice promotes at the market's pace, but its specialities do not: international tax lawyers were named within 8 years 37.2% of the time and corporate tax lawyers 28.7%, while only 60.2% of tax-exempt specialists were named within 12 years.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• IP Partner Track by US City: Boston Runs Fastest, New York Slowest

  Among IP partners promoted over 5 years, 42.3% in Boston got there within 8 years, against 16.5% in New York. The quick clocks run in mid-sized benches such as Boston, Dallas and Chicago, not in the two largest.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Litigation Partner Track by City 2026: Miami Early, Los Angeles Late

  Litigation's median time to partner is 10.0 years, but the share of litigators promoted within 8 years runs from 12.0% in Los Angeles to 29.4% in Miami: the city sets the clock, not the practice.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Making Partner in London: Private Equity Fast, Litigation Slow

  In London, private equity partners were promoted within 8 years 3.4 times as often as litigators. Against Manchester, the only other UK city we can measure, the London median is 2 years shorter.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Making Partner in Texas: Houston Runs a Faster Clock Than Dallas

  Houston and Dallas share a median time to partner of 10.0 years, but Houston clears more of its slower cases: 82.6% of its new partners arrive within 12 years against 76.9% in Dallas, and the split is widest in litigation.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Midwest Time to Partner: Minneapolis Fast, Columbus Litigators Slow

  Minneapolis made 34.3% of its new partners within 8 years, more than any other US city we publish. Litigators in Columbus made 11.9%. The region runs on two very different partner clocks.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Northeast Time to Partner 2026: Newark and Pittsburgh Run Slower

  Newark made 60.0% of its new partners within 12 years and Pittsburgh 65.2%, against 80.5% in Philadelphia and 78.7% in Boston. New York, at 73.2%, sits close to the market: the corridor's slow partner clocks run beside its largest market, not inside it.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Partner Track Spread by Practice: 7 Years in Immigration, 3 in M&A

  The fastest quarter of new partners is named at much the same point in every practice; the slowest quarter is not. In immigration it waited 16.0 years or more, against 11.0 years in corporate and M&A and 12.0 years market-wide, so the spread, more than the median, says how far a firm can plan a partner pipeline.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Product Liability Partner Track by City 2026: Philadelphia Runs Fast

  Product liability and tort lawyers in Philadelphia made partner within 8 years 41.7% of the time, against 13.5% in Los Angeles, and New York promoted only 65.2% within 12 years: the defense bar's clock depends on the city.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Real Estate Partner Track by City 2026: Miami Fast, New York Slow

  Real estate lawyers in Miami and Chicago made partner within 8 years 37.9% and 36.4% of the time, against 13.9% in New York: the country's biggest real estate bench is among the slowest to promote.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Southeast Time to Partner 2026: Two Clocks, Miami and Charlotte

  Miami promotes 32.9% of its new partners within 8 years, Charlotte 7.0%, while medians stay between 9.0 years and 10.0 years: the region runs at least two partner clocks.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• The Long Partner Track: Projects, Trade and Regulatory Work

  Sartori & Partners data show 66.9% of projects and infrastructure partners promoted within 12 years, against 86.7% in private equity and 75.4% across the market. The long track sits in project, trade, regulatory and private client work.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Time to Partner in Canada: The City Gap Is a Litigation Gap

  Toronto litigators made partner within 8 years 52.2% of the time, against 38.1% in Montreal and 36.4% in Calgary. Corporate lawyers in Toronto and Montreal reach partner on nearly the same clock.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Time to Partner in Washington, DC: Why Deal Lawyers Wait Longer

  Washington promotes 14.4% of its new partners within 8 years, against 20.3% in New York. The shortfall sits in corporate, regulatory and white collar work, not in the city's litigation bench.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Tort Partner Tracks in 2026: A Fast Start and a Long Tail

  Tort specialities promote early and late at once. In premises and general liability the middle half of new partners took 8.0 years to 14.0 years, a spread of 6 years against 3 in private M&A, so the date of a partnership decision is harder to plan.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• West Coast Time to Partner: San Diego and San Francisco Run Long

  The fastest quarter of new partners is promoted by 9.0 years in all five Western cities we compare. The gap opens at the slow end, where San Diego's upper quartile reaches 14.5 years against 12.0 years in Los Angeles.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Where Changing Firm Is the Promotion: Legal Specialities in 2026

  In distribution and agency work 28.3% of lateral moves came with a higher title, against 12.9% across the market and 8.0% in defamation. In some specialities the next title is easier to win at a new firm than at home.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Where Law Firms Promote Partners: Practice and City Classes, 2026

  Litigation produced 126 of New York's 399 new partners in the 12 months to May 2026 and 73 of Washington's 164. New York's transactional groups and litigation in Washington, Chicago and London hold the other large classes.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026
• Where Making Partner Takes Longest: Immigration, Family and ESG

  Sartori & Partners data show 54.3% of business immigration partners promoted within 12 years, against 75.4% across the market. Family, ESG and climate change specialities sit at the same level: the slow tracks are advice to individuals and newer fields.

  November 11, 2026 · November 2026