Where Law Firms Promote Partners: Practice and City Classes, 2026

Ask where law firms promote the most partners and the answer is a short list of practice and city pairs. Sartori & Partners data show that litigation produced 126 of the 399 lawyers promoted to partner in New York in the 12 months from June 2025 to May 2026. That is the largest single class we can publish for any pair. In Washington, litigation accounted for 73 of 164 new partners. For a firm deciding whether to grow a partner bench from within or buy it laterally, these classes show where competitors are making their own partners, and where the pool of newly minted partners open to a first lateral move will be deepest.

One caution runs through the figures below. A lawyer can carry more than one practice, so a pair's class counts promotions involving that practice. A share of a city's total is meaningful; adding pairs together is not.

New York's class of 399 is the largest of any city. Litigation is its biggest component at 31.6% of the total. Across all markets we track, litigation is involved in 41.3% of all partner promotions, so the city's class tilts toward deal work.

The transactional figures confirm the tilt. Corporate and M&A promotions in New York reached 105, or 26.3% of the city's class, against 21.0% across all markets we track. Banking and finance added 74, which is 18.5% of the New York total, where the practice's share across all markets we track is 11.6%.

The track itself differs by group. Measured on partners promoted over 5 years, New York litigators made partner at a median of 11.0 years, against 10.0 years in corporate and 10.0 years in banking. Only 15.6% of the city's litigation promotions came within 8 years, compared with 25.4% in corporate. For a New York firm, the litigation pipeline is large but slow: a senior associate in that group waits longer than a deal lawyer of the same class year, which is the window in which competitors make offers.

Outside New York, litigation's weight rises. Washington's 73 litigation promotions equal 44.5% of its class. Chicago's 70 equal 48.3% of a class of 145. Both sit above litigation's share across all markets we track, and both cities are much smaller markets than New York, so a single litigation class there shapes the whole city's partner intake.

The pace is quicker than in New York. Over 5 years of promotions, the median Washington litigator made partner in 10.0 years, while the Washington figure across all practices is 11.0 years. Chicago litigators reached partner at a median of 10.0 years, and 83.9% did so within 12 years.

Chicago also makes more of its own partners per lateral hire than either city. In Sartori & Partners figures, the city promoted 0.94 partners for each lateral partner it hired, against 0.76 in New York and 0.67 in Washington. Lateral litigation partner hiring in Chicago fell 25.0% between the two settled 12-month windows, from 84 to 63. A firm recruiting litigation partners in Chicago is competing against homegrown classes, so the case for a move has to beat a promotion the candidate may already expect.

London promoted 258 partners in the 12 months, the second largest city class. Litigation took 68 of them, or 26.4%, a lower share than in any of the three American cities above.

Private equity is where London stands out. The city's private equity class of 42 is 16.3% of its total, above the practice's 10.0% share of promotions across all markets we track. Its track is also short: 36.2% of London private equity partners promoted over 5 years made it within 8 years, against 10.7% of London litigators. A London firm hiring private equity talent meets senior associates who expect partnership early, which compresses the time a firm has to convince them.

Toronto shows how a smaller market concentrates its intake. Corporate and M&A produced 25 of the city's 67 new partners, or 37.3%. Toronto also promoted 2.09 partners per lateral partner hire, the highest figure among the cities in the table above.

Canadian qualification follows a shorter route, so Toronto's track is compared only with Toronto. On partners promoted over 5 years, 59.0% of the city's corporate partners made it within 8 years, against 50.8% across all Toronto practices. Firms entering Toronto should expect to grow corporate partners rather than buy them.

Across all cities, Sartori & Partners recorded 1,221 promotions involving litigation, 2.0 times the 620 in corporate and M&A. The practice totals overlap, because one promotion can involve several practices, so the bars below are not a split of the market.

First, the deepest pools of newly promoted partners are New York litigation, corporate and banking, followed by litigation in Washington, Chicago and London. New York litigation alone accounted for 126 new partners in the year. A firm looking for junior partners with a fresh title will find the most candidates in those groups.

Second, the pace of the track decides when to approach. In New York litigation the median sits at 11.0 years, so senior associates there spend longer waiting, and an offer that includes a partner title lands harder. In London private equity the early track means the approach has to come sooner.

Third, where a city promotes many partners per lateral hire, as Toronto and Chicago do, expect candidates to weigh an internal promotion against any lateral offer. Price the move against that, not against the open market.