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Reports
- Business Immigration Is 55.1% of Immigration Hiring in 2026
Business immigration lawyers make up 55.1% of immigration lateral hiring, and their partners reach promotion after 12.0 years against the market's 10.0 years: the same slow track as immigration as a whole.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Buyout Lawyers: A Market for Firms of 1,000+ Lawyers
Buyout lateral hiring runs through very large platforms on both sides of the move: firms of 1,000+ lawyers took 80.0% of buyout laterals, against 53.6% across the market, and were the previous firm for 79.8% of buyout movers over 3 years, against 56.6%. London, not New York, took the largest share of hires.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Calgary Partner Market 2026: A Far Larger Mid-Size Share Than Toronto
Firms of 400-999 lawyers took 60.0% of Calgary lateral moves over 12 months, against 41.2% in Toronto and 23.4% across the market. Hiring sits with a short list of firms, and volume was flat year on year.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Capital Markets Deals 2026: Two Client Pillars, a Flat Partner Bench
Capital markets work rests on banks and pharma, at 1.9 and 2.0 times their shares of all deals. Deal counts rose 10.0% while lateral partner hiring in the practice held flat (+1.1%).
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Capital Markets Deals in 2026: Two Firms Hold a Band of Their Own
Capital markets is the most concentrated deal type at the top: its two most active advisers sit in the 701-1200 band, which no firm reaches in any other type. The work rose 10.0% while lateral partner hiring in the practice held flat (+1.1%).
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Capital Markets Lateral Hiring 2026: The Practice That Changes City
Capital markets lawyers relocate more than their peers: 23.8% of movers changed city, against 20.5% market-wide. New York draws 25.0% of arrivals at an index of 169, yet it sent out slightly more lawyers than it took in, while overall volume stayed flat.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Capital Markets Path to Partner: 80.1% Promoted Within 12 Years
Capital markets lawyers make partner sooner than most: 80.1% within 12 years against 75.4%, on an average track of 10.5 years against 11.1 years. Firms still promote 0.75 partners for each lateral partner they hire, close to the market's 0.79.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Charlotte Associate Market 2026: Associates Make 66.7% of Moves
Associates make up about two in three lateral moves into Charlotte law firms, 66.7% against 58.5% in the market, the highest share of any city with a larger volume. Charlotte's hiring grew 3.4 times as fast as the market's.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Charlotte Banking & Finance Laterals: Few Hirers, Mostly Associates
In Charlotte, 23 firms made the banking and finance lateral hires of the last 12 months, and a short list of them took most of the moves. Associates were 67.7% of those moves, against 55.8% across the practice.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Charlotte Lateral Partner Market 2026: Banking First, Partners Flat
Charlotte hires lawyers for its banks first: banking and finance runs at an index of 329 against the market. Partners are a thinner slice of that hiring than elsewhere, at 18.5% of moves against 27.7%, and partner hiring held flat (+0.0%).
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Chemical Company Capital Markets Counsel in 2026: Frankfurt Matters
Chemicals deal work leans toward Europe: Frankfurt lawyers worked on 12.1% of the sector's deals and London lawyers on 18.3%. Capital markets is the sector's first practice, on 37.6% of its deals.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Chemical Industry Deals Outpace the Market: Book Deal Counsel Early
Chemical industry deals rose 33.7% year on year while all dated deals rose 10.6%, with capital markets, M&A and banking work each above its market share. Deal teams that cover chemicals are carrying more work: a chemical company should book its advisers early.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Chemical Industry Lawyers Cover Five Practices: Hire One, Buy the Rest
Lawyers with a chemicals focus who changed firms over three years carried litigation, intellectual property, regulatory, environmental and product liability work, four of them far above their market share, and Washington was their first city. A chemical company with room for one in-house lawyer covers one of these risks and buys the rest outside.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Chemical Industry M&A Counsel in 2026: Sector Outpaces the Practice
The chemicals deal count rose 33.7% year on year, 3.5 times the pace of corporate and M&A deal work, whose count rose 9.5%. Corporate lawyers worked on 33.7% of the sector's deals, a close second to capital markets lawyers.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Chicago Associate Market 2026: Many Moves, Few Step Up a Title
Chicago's lateral market runs on associates, and most of them move sideways: associates were 61.6% of moves against 58.5% in the market, yet only 8.4% of Chicago movers stepped up a title, the lowest rate among the busiest US cities.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Chicago Banking & Finance: 29.0% of Laterals Changed City
Chicago finance laterals relocate more often than finance laterals elsewhere or Chicago laterals in other practices: 29.0% changed city, and associates made 70.1% of the moves. Chicago offices still supplied at least 61.5% of arrivals over 3 years.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Chicago Employment Laterals Step Up 1.9 Times as Often as the City
Employment lawyers who join Chicago firms step up in title far more often than the city's laterals overall and more often than employment lawyers across the practice: 16.2% against 8.4% and 13.5%. Partners are also a larger share of the moves, 30.9% against 22.4% across the practice.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Chicago IP Laterals Leave Big Firms More Often Than They Join Them
Chicago IP lawyers leave firms of 1,000+ lawyers at the city's usual rate, but firms of 400-999 lawyers take 39.9% of arrivals, 1.5 times their share across Chicago.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Chicago Lateral Partner Market 2026: Firms Promote More Than Most
Lateral partner hiring in Chicago held flat (-2.5%), while the market rose 8.4%. Chicago firms promote 0.94 partners for each lateral partner they hire, against 0.79 nationally: they lean on their own partners more than most markets do.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Chicago Litigation Partner Moves Fell While the Market Held Flat
Lateral partner moves in Chicago litigation fell from 84 to 63 while the city's litigation moves at every level held flat. Promotion is the other way in: 70 Chicago litigators made partner from June 2025 to May 2026, a separate window from the lateral figures.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Chicago M&A Lateral Hiring Rose 49.4% While the City Held Flat
Corporate and M&A hiring in Chicago rose 49.4% on the year, ahead of the practice as a whole and of a city where total hiring held flat. Partner moves into Chicago M&A rose 61.9%, from 21 to 34.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - 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 - Chicago Product Liability Hiring Runs Heavy on Partners
Partners took 35.0% of Chicago product liability lateral moves over 12 months, a larger share than across the practice or across Chicago. The city's index on product liability partners stands at 195, against 146 for the practice at all levels.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Chicago Real Estate Hiring: Counsel Are 17.9% of Laterals
Chicago real estate hiring leans on the counsel tier: 17.9% of laterals against 14.6% across the practice, while partners are a thinner 23.2% against 28.9%. Smaller firms and finance-minded lawyers shape the rest.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Cities Gaining Lawyers From Other Cities: Los Angeles and Miami Lead
Counted as arrivals from other cities against departures to them, Los Angeles gained 30 lawyers net in 12 months and Miami 29. New York, San Francisco, Dallas, Houston and Boston sent out more than they took in.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Civil Fraud and Asset Recovery Hiring Rose 68.6%, Led from London
Lateral moves by civil fraud and asset recovery lawyers rose from 35 to 59 while litigation rose 7.5%. This is a London partner market: London took 31.0% of three-year moves, and partners 65.5% of the last 12 months.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Civil Rights Litigation Hiring: Chicago Nearly Level with New York
Civil rights and constitutional litigation is not a New York market: over 3 years Chicago took 9.5% of lateral hires and New York 10.3%, while litigation as a whole sends 12.9% of its hires to New York and 4.6% to Chicago. Hiring held flat (+6.3%) year on year.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Class Action Partner Hiring: Partners Take 40.1% of Lateral Moves
Class actions are a partner market inside an associate-heavy practice: partners are 40.1% of class action laterals, against 27.4% in litigation and 30.9% in commercial litigation, above the 36.5% of the past 3 years.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Cleveland Lateral Partner Market: Counsel Move as Often as Partners
Counsel made 23.8% of lateral moves into Cleveland over 12 months, 1.9 times the market share and a little more than partners. The three-year record matches, and firms of 150-399 lawyers do far more of the hiring than they do nationally.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Columbus Lateral Partner Market 2026: Big Firms Supply Few Hires
Columbus rarely recruits out of the largest firms: over three years 19.4% of its lateral hires left a firm of 1,000+ lawyers, against 56.6% in the market and 58.0% in Chicago. Most hires were already in Columbus, and volume was flat.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Commercial Contracts Lateral Hiring 2026: Partners Grown, Not Bought
Commercial contracts is the practice where firms make the most partners for each one they hire: 1.18 promotions per lateral partner against 0.79 market-wide. Partner moves held flat at 39 against 38, and 40.7% of moves also carry corporate work.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Commercial Litigation Lateral Market 2026: Where the Hires Land
Commercial litigation carries 31.9% of litigation moves, and its hires land in regional markets: Dallas, Seattle, Denver and Miami take well above their market weight, New York holds its weight at 97 and London sits at 36.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Commercial Real Estate Transaction Lawyers in 2026: Who Buys the Work
Real estate companies commission most commercial real estate transaction work, but asset managers and funds account for 16.3% of its deals. Lateral hiring held flat (+4.2%) while the practice's dated deals rose 9.6%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Companies Hiring Lawyers From Law Firms in 2026: Harvey Hired Most
Harvey hired the most lawyers out of law firms between May and October 2026, ahead of Amazon. The eight busiest employers mix sellers of legal technology, large technology platforms, a bank and a carmaker, and technology lawyers make the move at 30.3 per hundred lateral moves.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Compliance Counsel From Law Firms: Investigators Move, Regulators Stay
Investigations lawyers leave law firms for companies at 2.1 times the rate of regulatory and compliance lawyers. Regulatory benches lean to partners and firms are adding financial services regulatory partners, so the compliance hire that lands most easily is an investigator.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Compliance Program Lawyers in 2026: A Washington Bench
Corporate compliance program hiring is a Washington, DC market: over three years the capital took 37.7% of moves against 16.9% for the regulatory practice, and in the last 12 months 20.8% of movers joined at a higher title against 14.7%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Construction and Engineering Counsel: No Firm Holds the M&A Work
Construction and engineering companies buy M&A advice at 2.0 times the market's rate, from a field no firm holds: the first-ranked adviser sits in the 11-20 band of deals advised and seven of the ten busiest in the 6-10 band. Construction lawyers sit on 8.8% of these deals, a small share that still runs far above the market, so the deal panel and the projects and disputes panel are separate purchases.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Construction Contract Lawyers in 2026: Partners In, Few Counsel
Construction contracts hiring runs on partners, at 44.0% of moves, while counsel take 7.5%, a thinner tier than in construction as a whole. Partners can be hired from the market; the level below them mostly has to be built at home.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Construction Disputes Lawyers in 2026: A Market That Relocates
Construction disputes lawyers change city with their move more often than the market and more often than the rest of construction, and no single city holds more than 7.8% of the hires. The bench is national, and so is the search.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Construction Lateral Hiring 2026: A Flat Practice in a Rising Market
Construction lateral hiring held flat (-1.8%) and the partner count held flat (-4.7%), while the whole lateral market rose 9.0%. The hiring that does happen sits further from the largest firms than in any practice of its size.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Construction Lawyers Are Litigators: 85.7% Also Handle Disputes
Construction-focused lawyers who changed firms are disputes lawyers first: 85.7% carry litigation, 2.1 times the market's share, and 19.8% left firms of under 150 lawyers over 36 months. The sector's deals carry a different practice mix, so claims counsel is found among specialist litigators.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Construction Partner Track 2026: Promotion or a Step-Up Move
Construction firms promote 0.68 partners for each lateral partner they hire, against 0.79 market-wide, while 16.8% of construction movers join at a higher title, against 12.9%. A lawyer passed over at home can take the partner title by moving.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Consumer and Retail M&A Counsel in 2026: Flat Sector, Busier Bench
Consumer goods and retail deals held flat (-2.1%) year on year, while corporate and M&A deals rose 9.5% and M&A partner moves between firms rose 12.2%. Corporate lawyers sit on 23.4% of the sector's deals, so consumer companies buy M&A advice from a practice that got busier while their own sector did not.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Consumer Brands Hiring In-House Counsel: Expect Senior Litigators
Intellectual property is the practice named most often on consumer and retail deals, yet the lawyers with this focus who change firms are mostly partner litigators and product liability specialists. A company hiring in-house meets a senior, dispute-trained bench, not a deal bench.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Consumer Brands' IP Counsel in 2026: Disputes Are 95.3% of IP Deals
Consumer goods and retail is the client sector on 8.8% of intellectual property deals, first of the twelve sectors listed, and IP lawyers sit on 31.9% of the sector's deals. The work is contested: disputes and investigations were the type on 95.3% of IP deals and 42.4% of consumer goods deals.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Consumer Finance Lawyers: Ten Firms Take 71.9% of Hiring
Consumer financial services hiring sits with few firms: the ten most active took 71.9% of hires against 30.6% in financial services regulatory, and hiring rose 39.1%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Consumer Litigation Lawyers Are Mostly Associates: 65.7% of Movers
Associates are 65.7% of the lawyers acting for individuals and consumers who changed firms, against 58.5% in the market, and fewer of them join the largest firms. A company hiring a consumer-claims litigator should look at associate level and beyond firms of 1,000+ lawyers.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Consumer Protection Lawyer Hiring Rose 40.4%, Led by Partners
Lateral moves by consumer protection lawyers rose 40.4%, from 52 to 73, in a year when their regulatory and compliance practice held flat (+0.5%). Partners carried the rise: partner moves went from 25 to 42.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Copyright Lawyers in 2026: Hiring Follows the Media Docket
Media and entertainment clients sit on 53.8% of copyright matters on record, most of them disputes, and copyright hiring over-indexes in San Francisco and Los Angeles far more than intellectual property does. Volume is flat; the map is what moved.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Corporate Benches Lose 20.1 Lawyers to Companies per Hundred Laterals
Corporate & M&A sends 20.1 lawyers to companies for every hundred lateral moves, against 12.3 in litigation, and associates are 76.7% of all such departures. A firm that trains corporate associates has to plan on buying part of each class back in the lateral market.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Corporate Governance Hiring: Partners Make 67.6% of Moves
Corporate governance is a partner market: partners made 67.6% of its lateral moves in the 12 months to October 2026, against 29.9% in corporate and M&A. The pool is not growing: governance hiring held flat (+0.0%) year on year.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Corporate Lending in 2026: 2,010 Deals, Lateral Hiring Flat
Banking and finance deal work rose 12.1% and the practice's hiring rose 14.1%, yet corporate lending lawyers are not moving more: hiring in the speciality held flat (-1.3%).
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Corporate M&A Deals in 2026: 74.6% M&A, Tech the Largest Client
M&A is 74.6% of corporate deal work and technology is the largest client sector at 14.0%, 2.1 times its share of all deals. Corporate deals rose 9.5% while corporate lateral hiring rose 15.8%: firms are hiring ahead of the work.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Corporate M&A Lateral Hiring Rose 15.8%, Faster Than the Market
Corporate and M&A lateral hiring rose 15.8% against 9.0% for the whole market, and partner hiring kept pace at 12.2%. The practice also sends more of its lawyers in-house than litigation does.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Corporate M&A Path to Partner: Fast Track, Thin Pipeline
Corporate and M&A promotes faster than the market, with a median of 9.0 years to partner against 10.0 years, yet makes only 0.75 partners for each lateral partner it hires. Since May 2026 its moves to companies have equaled 20.1% of its lateral moves, drawn from the bench those promotions need.
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 - Corporate Restructuring Buys Its Partners Rather Than Making Them
Corporate restructuring fills its partner bench by hiring. Its practice promotes 0.47 partners per lateral partner, the lowest of any practice, against 0.79 market-wide, and partners are 45.0% of its laterals.
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 - Creditors' Rights Lawyers: The Long Road to Partner
Creditors' rights is one of the slower routes to partnership: a median of 11.0 years from first year of practice, and only 14.1% promoted within 8 years. The lateral market it feeds is partner-heavy, with partners at 48.6% of moves.
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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