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- From 24 to 46 Sports Partner Moves: Clubs Bid Against Law Firms
Partner moves among lawyers with a sports focus rose 91.7%, to 46 from 24, while the market's partner moves rose 8.4%. With partners at 60.6% of sports movers, a club, league or sports company hiring in-house is bidding against law-firm offers.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Fund Counsel for Sponsors in 2026: The Work Leans on London
Sponsors and asset managers are the funds practice's two client sectors, and their deals do not lean on the same cities. 29.5% of sponsor deals were handled with lawyers in London, 1.6 times the share for asset manager deals, and sponsor deal volume rose 8.9% while funds practice volume held flat (+2.8%).
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Fund Finance Lawyers: The Top 10 Hirers Hold Most of the Market
Fund finance hiring is held by a short list: the top 10 hirers took 56.3% of lateral moves and 69.0% of partner moves, against 19.9% and 25.1% in banking and finance. Over three years the figure was 41.0%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Fund Formation Work Rose in 2026: Ahead of a Flat Funds Practice
Dated fund formations rose 23.0% year on year while the funds practice's whole deal record held flat (+2.8%), so the formation side is where the practice's work grew. Lateral partner hiring in funds rose 29.7% alongside it.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Funds Deals 2026: Work Flat, Lateral Hiring Up 23.7%
Funds deal flow held flat (+2.8%) on settled windows while lateral hiring into the practice rose 23.7% and partner hiring rose 29.7%. The deals are large, at a median disclosed $1,100 million, and fund formation is 39.1% of them.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Funds Lateral Hiring in 2026: The Moves Follow the Fund Domiciles
Funds lateral moves over-index where funds are domiciled: Luxembourg at 1,065 against the market, Paris at 276, Boston at 189. Firms of 1,000+ lawyers take 75.8% of the hires, against 53.6% market-wide.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Funds Partner Promotions: A Quick Track That Still Buys Partners
Funds and investment management lawyers clear the partnership vote sooner than the market: 79.4% within 12 years against 75.4%. Yet firms promoted only 0.58 funds partners for each lateral partner they hired, against 0.79 market-wide, and lateral partner moves in the practice rose 29.7%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Government and Internal Investigations Hiring: A Washington Market
Government and internal investigations hiring is anchored in Washington, DC: 24.1% of moves land there, an index of 430, and only 12.5% of movers change city, against 20.5% across the market.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Government Contracts Lawyers: Disputes, Deals and Washington
Sartori & Partners data show government contracts lawyers working on M&A as well as disputes, for public bodies and aerospace and defense companies first, while hiring held flat (+6.7%) and sits in Washington, DC at an index of 658.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Growth Equity Lawyers in 2026: Between Buyout and Venture
On deals, growth and minority investment work sits between buyout and venture: 44.8% private equity, 25.9% venture and growth financings. On hiring it does not: firms of 1,000+ lawyers took 81.9% of laterals, and the ten most active hirers 45.2%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Half of Banks' Deal Work Is Capital Markets: 1.9 Times the Market
For a bank, outside counsel is first a capital markets question: the practice touched 51.0% of the sector's deals, 1.9 times its share of all deals. Banks are also the practice's largest client sector, level with pharma and biotech.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Health Care Deals 2026: M&A Is 30.6% of the Matters on Record
Health care work is transactional as much as contentious: M&A is 30.6% of 258 recorded matters and healthcare providers sit in 71.7% of them. The matter count held flat (+2.1%) while lateral hiring into the practice rose 14.5%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Health Care Fraud Lawyers: A Few Firms Do Most of the Hiring
The top 10 hirers took 44.8% of health care fraud and abuse moves against 25.0% in the health care practice, and partners were 50.6% of them. The count of moves held flat.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Health Care Lateral Hiring in 2026: Growth Below the Partner Line
Health care laterals rose 14.5% on settled windows, faster than the market's 9.0%, yet partner moves stayed flat. The partner market that remains is concentrated: the top 10 hirers take 34.0% of partner moves, and Washington indexes at 225.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Health Care Lawyers Leave Firms for Companies Above the Market Rate
Between May and October 2026, health care lawyers moved to companies at 18.4 for every hundred lateral moves, against 13.1 in the whole market. Health care lateral hiring rose 14.5% and pharma and biotech deals rose 14.5%, so a company hiring health counsel bids against firms that are adding the same lawyers.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Health Care Path to Partner 2026: Buying Is the Default
Health care associates make partner on the market's clock, a median of 10.0 years, and lateral partner hiring was flat. Neither explains why firms promote only 0.52 partners per lateral partner hire, against 0.79: buying is how the practice adds partners.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Health Care Transactions Partners Are Made Sooner: 9.0 years
Health care transactions lawyers reach partner at a median of 9.0 years, against 10.0 years in health care and 10.0 years market-wide. Firms buy them as well: partners are 47.6% of lateral moves.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Health System Lawyers Work Outside New York, Often at Mid-Size Firms
Lawyers with a hospital and health plan focus who changed firms joined New York firms far less often than the market did, and firms of 150-399 lawyers took a much larger share of them. A health system hiring in-house should start its search in Washington, Chicago, Nashville and at mid-size firms.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Healthcare Provider Counsel in 2026: Nashville Works on 12.4% of Deals
Nashville sits behind only New York, Washington and Chicago on hospital and health plan deal work. The health care practice does 71.7% of its deals for providers, yet sits on 16.7% of the sector's deals.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Healthcare Reimbursement Work Is a Disputes Practice, Hiring Flat
Disputes and investigations made up 65.1% of healthcare regulatory and reimbursement matters over three years, regulatory and antitrust work 15.8%. Hiring held flat (+14.1%) on the year, and partners are a larger share of the moves than in health care as a whole.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Hire Finance First: Infrastructure Holds 11.6% of All Project Finance
Project and infrastructure finance is 19.8% of infrastructure deals against 2.1% market-wide, and the sector discloses deal values more often than any other sector and does so at a median of $850 million. The counsel a company needs is a finance team built for large, public tickets, with a strong London bench.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Hiring a Bank Lawyer In-House: 67.0% of the Bench Is Finance
Finance lawyers make up 67.0% of the bank-focused lawyers who changed firms, an index of 481 against the market, with regulatory and restructuring the next pools. Moves were flat and most joined firms of 1,000+ lawyers: a bank's in-house hire comes from big-firm finance groups.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Hiring a Utility Regulatory Lawyer: A Small, Partner-Heavy Bench
Lawyers who move with a utilities focus are regulatory specialists first: regulatory and compliance shows up in their moves at an index of 2,368 against the market, and partners were 56.5% of them over 36 months. Only 99 firms hired one in that time, so a utility filling a regulatory seat recruits from a small, senior pool.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Hiring an In-House Employment Lawyer: Many Associates, Few Partners
Employment lawyers leave law firms for companies at 12.9 per hundred lateral moves, close to the market's 13.1. Their bench is 61.6% associates and 22.4% partners, so the associate hire is within reach and the senior hire is the hard one.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Home-Market Firms vs National Platforms: Who Tops City Hiring
In Charlotte, Cleveland and Atlanta the most active lateral hirer is a firm whose hires land mostly in that city. In New York, Houston and Nashville the same national platform heads the list, and each city is a slice of its hiring.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Hong Kong Associate Market 2026: Built on Capital Markets Hiring
Capital markets runs at an index of 534 in Hong Kong lateral hiring, against 118 in London, and touched 19.5% of moves over three years against 4.1% market-wide. Associate hiring in the city follows equity and debt issuance.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Hong Kong Lateral Partner Market 2026: A City That Hires From Outside
Hong Kong fills its law-firm seats from other cities: 76.9% of lateral moves into the city involved a relocation, 3.8 times the market rate. Capital markets work carries 5.4 times its market share of moves.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Hospital System Capital Markets Counsel in 2026: Only 12.0% of Deals
Capital markets is a minor bench for hospital systems and payors: its lawyers sit on 12.0% of the sector's deals, under half its 26.4% share of all dated deals, and the sector's median disclosed deal of $250 million is less than half the practice's $563.2 million.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Hospitality M&A Counsel in 2026: The Work Fell, the Bench Did Not
Hospitality and leisure deal work fell 8.6% year on year while corporate and M&A deal work rose 9.5%. Corporate lawyers still sit on 30.7% of the sector's deals, more than any other practice.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Hotel Brand IP Counsel in 2026: IP Appears 1.5 Times as Often as Usual
Intellectual property lawyers sit on 17.0% of hospitality and leisure deals, 1.5 times their rate across all dated deals. Disputes and investigations, at 29.1%, are the sector's first deal type.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Hotel Company Capital Markets Counsel in 2026: Less Work, Same Bench
Hospitality and leisure deal work fell 8.6% year on year, while lateral hiring in capital markets held flat (+6.7%) and partner hiring in the practice held flat (+1.1%). A smaller sector now meets an unchanged bench, and capital markets lawyers work on 17.8% of the sector's deals.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Houston Associate Market 2026: Lateral Hiring Up 51.1%
Lateral hiring into Houston firms rose 51.1% year on year, 5.7 times the market's rate. Associates carry most of that volume, and construction work runs at 2.2 times its market share.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Houston Lateral Partner Hiring 2026: Deal Work Sets the Pace
Houston partner hiring follows deal work. Corporate partners over-index at 128 while litigation partners sit near the market at 96; in Dallas, litigation over-indexes too.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Houston Litigation Hiring 2026: Small Firms Supply, Midsize Firms Gain
Over three years, 25.5% of Houston litigation laterals with a known former firm came from firms under 150 lawyers, and only 11.4% joined one. Firms of 400-999 lawyers took 29.0% of the hires after supplying 14.4%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Houston M&A Is Energy M&A: Oil and Gas on 28.5% of Deals
Oil and gas clients sit on 28.5% of Houston M&A deals over 3 years, 9.5 times their share of the practice's deals over 12 months. Houston M&A lateral hiring rose 51.7%, in step with the city.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Houston Projects Hiring Rose 100.0% as the Practice Held Flat
Lateral hiring into Houston projects and infrastructure rose 100.0% in a year when hiring across the practice held flat (+1.3%) and Houston as a whole rose 51.1%. The deal record behind it is led by power and renewables work, on 48.6% of its three-year deals.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - How Long to Make Partner in 2026: The City Matters More Than Size
The median time to partner has held at 10.0 years since 2022, but the average has drifted later, the city shifts the answer by years even within one country, and firms hire 1.3 times as many partners from outside as they promote.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - How Long to Make Partner in Employment Advisory: 11.0 years
Employment advisory is the slow road to partner: a median of 11.0 years from first year of practice, against 10.0 years market-wide, and only 17.9% promoted within eight 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 - How Long to Make Partner in Public M&A: 9.0 years
Public M&A runs on the same partnership clock as private M&A, a median of 9.0 years against 10.0 years for the market. What sets it apart is the lateral market: partners are 48.8% of moves, and the top 10 hirers take 38.6% of them.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - How Long to Make Partner in Tax: A Slower Finish, More Buying
Tax associates start the partner track at the market's pace and finish it later: 72.4% are promoted within 12 years, against 75.4% across all practices. Firms answer the slow finish by hiring, promoting 0.58 tax partners per lateral partner against 0.79 market-wide.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - How Manufacturers Use Counsel: M&A at 2.1 Times the Market's Share
M&A runs at 2.1 times the market's rate in industrial manufacturing deals, staffed by corporate lawyers; more of their deals are handled with lawyers in Frankfurt and Munich than in most sectors. No single firm dominates the adviser list.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - How to Choose Outside Counsel in 2026: Start With the Matter Type
1,134 law firms advised on dated deals in the past 12 months, and the most active advisers change with the matter type. Choose by the work and your industry, not by the size of the firm.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - How to Hire In-House Counsel: 76.7% of Movers Are Associates
Three in four lawyers who leave a law firm for a company are associates (76.7%), and firms of 1,000+ lawyers supply 59.3% of them, more than that class takes of lateral moves. Source by level, firm size and city in that order.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Immigration Lateral Hiring 2026: A Short List of Mid-Size Buyers
Immigration laterals go to firms of 400-999 lawyers (42.1% of moves, against 23.4% across the market) more than to firms of 1,000+ lawyers (32.7%, against 53.6%), and the top 10 hirers take 45.7% of individual hires, against 12.9%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - In Philadelphia Litigation, a Lateral Move Is Often a Step Up
Philadelphia litigators who change firms join at a higher title more often than litigators across the practice, 17.3% against 13.4%, and more often than the city's lawyers in general. The buyers fit the pattern: fewer firms of 1,000+ lawyers, more midsize and small firms with room to offer the next rung.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - In-House Hires From Law Firms: 59.3% Left Firms of 1,000+ Lawyers
Between May and October 2026, 772 companies hired 953 lawyers straight from law firms. Most came from the largest firms, most were associates, and corporate lawyers made up 33.2% of these moves against 20.7% of moves between firms.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - In-House Hiring by Month: Companies Hire on the Law-Firm Calendar
Companies hire lawyers out of law firms in the same months firms hire from each other: June (188) and September (187) led both counts in 2026, and the in-house share of lateral moves held steady from June.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Industrial M&A Counsel in 2026: Seven Firms Share the Top Band
Seven of the ten firms most active on industrial manufacturing deals sit in the 21-40 band of deals advised and the other three one band lower, while the corporate and M&A list opens with three firms at 401-700. Five firms appear on both lists.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Infrastructure Capital Markets Counsel in 2026: Capital Markets First
Infrastructure owners bring in capital markets counsel more often than any other bench: capital markets lawyers sat on 30.1% of the sector's deals, against 22.1% for corporate and M&A, 18.5% for banking and finance and 15.0% for projects and infrastructure.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Infrastructure Finance Counsel in 2026: A $850 Million Median Ticket
Disclosed infrastructure deals carry a median of $850 million, 1.6 times the $545 million of banking and finance work, and finance lawyers sit on 18.5% of the sector's deals, 2.9 times their share of all dated deals.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Infrastructure Lawyers Work at the Largest Firms: 75.1% Join One
Lawyers with an infrastructure focus join firms of 1,000+ lawyers on 75.1% of their moves, and over 36 months about as many moves started at such a firm, so the bench passes from one large platform to the next. Projects and finance specialists drive it and Paris draws them far above its market weight. A company hiring one in-house bids against large-firm pay.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Infrastructure M&A Counsel in 2026: Partners Do the Moving
The infrastructure bench that changes firms is senior: partners made up 61.0% of those moves, against 29.9% across corporate and M&A. Corporate lawyers sit on 22.1% of the sector's deals, which have grown much faster than that bench.
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 - Inside the Hospitality Bench: Real Estate on 44.8% of Lawyer Moves
Real estate is the largest practice among lawyers with a hospitality focus who changed firms, at 422 on an index that sets its share against the market's. It is not a majority, and partner moves in the sector fell while the market's rose. A hotel or leisure company hiring counsel should screen property lawyers first.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Insolvency Litigation in 2026: Half Court, Half Restructuring
The matters split 53.9% restructuring and 43.8% disputes, yet the lateral bench is built like restructuring's: partners are 46.1% of moves, against 27.4% in litigation.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Insurance Coverage Lawyers: A Pool Rooted in Small Firms
Insurance coverage lawyers start at small firms far more often than the market's movers: firms under 150 lawyers were the previous firm for 23.0% of them over 3 years, against 11.4% across all practices. On the hiring side, firms of 150-399 lawyers took 23.7% of coverage joiners in 12 months, against 13.3% market-wide.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Insurance Deals 2026: Matters Rose While Hiring Held Flat
Insurance work grew and the bench did not: recorded matters rose 16.6% while insurance lateral hiring held flat (+2.5%). Most of the work is disputes for insurers, with a second, smaller M&A business beside it.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Insurance Defense Lateral Moves: The Title Comes With the Move
In insurance defense a lateral move buys a title more often than in its practice or the market: 20.7% of movers joined a rank higher, against 15.7% in product liability and torts and 12.9% overall.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Insurance Lateral Hiring 2026: Concentrated Buyers, Flat Volume
Insurance hiring runs through a short list of firms: the top 10 hirers take 31.9% of moves and 32.1% of partner moves, against 12.9% and 13.5% market-wide, while volume stayed flat on settled windows.
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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