City · promotions · November 2026

Atlanta: promotions and time to partner

How Atlanta fills its partner bench: promotions against lateral partner arrivals, and how long the track to partner takes.

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01 The numbers

The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026

61
Partner promotionsJune 2025 to May 2026
10.0 years
Median time to partnerFive years of promotions
0.90
Promotions per lateral partner12 months to May 2026
59
Lateral partner arrivalsNovember 2025 to October 2026
02 Reading the data

What the data show

Sartori & Partners data record 61 partner promotions in Atlanta from June 2025 to May 2026. Promotions are confirmed about five months late, so this window ends earlier than the lateral figures. Over the same 12 months that is 0.90 promotions for every lateral partner hired, against 0.79 across the market: more of the partner bench here is made than bought.

Years from first year of practice to partner

Across five years of promotions, the median time from first year of practice to partner is 10.0 years, with the middle half between 9.0 years and 12.0 years. The market median is also 10.0 years. The median rests on 273 promotions.

Partner promotions per lateral partner, by city, 12 months to May 2026

Highlighted: this page.

On settled windows lateral partner moves in Atlanta went from 81 to 60, down 25.9% year on year.

Atlanta: lateral moves by year

2026 runs to October.

For a firm planning succession in Atlanta, peers grow more of their own partners than the market does: a lateral hire has to bring what the internal track cannot.

03 Explore

Related monitors and reports

Hiring in this market

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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