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Every report, newest first. Each one states one finding from the edition it was written on and links to the monitor behind it.
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Reports
- Power M&A Counsel Is One of Three Benches: No Practice Owns the Work
Power and renewables work splits across three practices of similar size: projects lawyers on 32.9% of the sector's deals, corporate and M&A lawyers on 27.7% and capital markets lawyers on 26.0%. A general counsel who buys only an M&A team is buying one bench out of three.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - PPP Lawyers: Paris and the Partner Bench
Public-private partnership hiring leans on Paris and on partners: Paris took 12.8% of moves over 3 years against 4.5% for projects and infrastructure, and partners made up 64.3% of the last 12 months' moves against 38.6%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Practice Hotspots by City: Hiring Clusters Where Regulators Sit
The sharpest practice concentrations in lateral hiring sit next to a regulator or an industry: antitrust in Brussels, trade in Washington, projects in Houston, banking in Charlotte. Among large cells, Los Angeles employment and New York funds stand out.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Practices Ranked: Litigation Holds the Volume, Smaller Practices Grow
Litigation is involved in 39.9% of lateral moves but grew more slowly than the market. The growth sits in smaller practices: technology, data and privacy, tax, and funds.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Practices Where Specialist Firms Lead Lateral Hiring in 2026
Specialist firms head the hiring lists in employment, product liability and insurance, and they build with associates and counsel. In private equity and capital markets, global full-service platforms come first.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Premises Liability Defense: Smaller Firms Take a Larger Share
Premises and general liability defense hiring leans to mid-size firms: firms of 150-399 lawyers took 31.4% of moves against 13.3% market-wide, and over 3 years 28.2% of movers came from firms under 150 lawyers, against 11.4% across the market.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Privacy Lawyers Held Still While Tech Hiring Rose in 2026
Sartori & Partners data show privacy hiring held flat (+2.0%) against a practice that rose 32.6% and a market that rose 9.0%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Private Client Lateral Hiring 2026: Most Moves Skip the Largest Firms
Private client lawyers move to mid-size and small firms: firms of 1,000+ lawyers took 18.9% of moves against 53.6% across the market, firms under 150 lawyers took 18.9% against 9.7%, and 25.6% of movers also changed city.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Private Client Path to Partner 2026: Longest Among Larger Practices
The slowest quarter of new private client partners took 14.0 years or more to make partner, and only 66.2% got there within 12 years, against 75.4% market-wide. The lateral bench sits mostly outside the largest firms.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Private Credit Lawyers Stay in Their City as Hiring Holds Flat
Private credit hiring held flat (-4.3%) on the settled year, and only 13.1% of movers changed city, against 20.4% in banking and finance and 20.5% market-wide. New York and London carry the hiring, and each hub hires from its own bench.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Private Equity Deals in 2026: Partner Hiring Outpaces Sponsor Work
Private equity deal counts rose 10.4% year on year, and lateral partner hiring in the practice rose 16.1%. Firms are adding sponsor partners faster than sponsor deals grow, in a book where financial sponsors are the client on 83.9% of deals.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Private Equity Deals Need Two Benches: No Practice Holds Half
Private equity deals are worked by two practice groups at close to equal rates, 36.0% and 32.3%, while M&A runs on one. A firm that wants sponsor mandates needs both benches, and lateral partner hiring rose in each of them.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Private Equity Lateral Hiring in 2026: Partner-Heavy and Concentrated
Partners are 38.1% of private equity laterals against 27.7% across the market, and the top 10 hirers take 27.0% of all moves, 2.1 times the market's concentration.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Private Equity Law Firms in Paris: A Short List Does the Hiring
22 firms hired private equity lawyers in Paris over 12 months, yet the ten most active took 72.0% of the moves, against 27.0% across the practice and 41.5% across Paris. Firms of 1,000+ lawyers took 89.8%, and volume held flat.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Private Equity Lawyers Work Almost Only for Sponsors: Not the Reverse
Sponsors are the client on 83.9% of the deals private equity lawyers work, but those lawyers appear on only 32.8% of sponsor deals. A sponsor's panel needs funds, corporate and finance benches as well as a private equity group.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Private Equity Path to Partner: Fastest Clock, Bought Partners
Private equity has the shortest road to partner of any practice we track, a mean of 9.8 years against 11.1 years. It still promotes only 0.68 partners for each lateral partner it hires, against 0.79 market-wide, and its lateral partner hiring rose 16.1%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Private Fund Formation Hiring rose 20.5% in 2026, Above the Market
Fund formation is a speciality in growth: lateral hiring rose 20.5% year on year while the market rose 9.0%. Partners carry the rise, and Paris over-indexes more than any other city.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Private M&A lateral hiring: flat inside a growing practice
Private M&A hiring held flat (-0.9%) while the corporate practice it belongs to rose 15.8%. Lawyers whose own focus is private M&A make 37.9% of that practice's moves, so a private M&A search should be planned on the speciality's own numbers, not the corporate total.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Product Liability Hiring Runs Through the Counsel Title
Counsel are 20.4% of product liability laterals, against 16.8% in the wider practice and 12.7% market-wide, and 16.8% of movers join at a higher title.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Product Liability Lateral Moves in 2026: A Counsel Market
Product liability hiring runs through the counsel tier: counsel are 16.8% of moves against 12.7% market-wide, and 15.7% of movers join at a higher title, while volume stayed flat as the market grew.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Product Liability Matters in 2026: 5.9 per Client
Product liability work runs through repeat clients: 5.9 recorded matters per client in 12 months, nearly all of them disputes. Individuals and healthcare providers are the largest client sectors, and both matters and hiring held flat.
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 - Product Liability Path to Partner in 2026: A Fast Lane and a Slow Lane
Product liability partners reach the title on two clocks. More make it within 8 years than in the market, 25.4% against 23.2%, yet fewer within 12 years, 72.4% against 75.4%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Product Liability Work for Individuals in 2026: Sector Up, Hiring Flat
Matters involving individuals and consumers rose 15.8% year on year, but the product liability practice's own matters held flat (+0.2%) and its lateral partner hiring held flat (-5.0%). Product liability lawyers sit on 21.3% of the sector's matters, so demand is rising around a practice whose own readings are level.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Professional Liability Lateral Hiring: A Short List of Buyers
Ten firms take 33.0% of professional liability moves, 2.8 times the concentration seen across litigation. Philadelphia over-indexes at 355, and team moves run well above the market rate.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Professional Services Capital Markets Counsel in 2026: One-Off Issuers
Professional services companies are one-off issuers: their clients averaged 1.6 deals each in 12 months, against 2.6 across the capital markets practice. Capital markets lawyers worked on 18.6% of the sector's deals, behind corporate lawyers at 49.2%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Professional Services Firms in 2026: M&A-Heavy and Rarely Priced
M&A runs at 2.1 times its market share in professional services and private equity at 2.1 times, while only 5.5% of the sector's deals disclose a value. Nine of the ten most active advisers share one band.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Professional Services Lawyers Move in Teams, Far Above the Market
Team moves were 14.8% of lateral moves by lawyers who focus on professional services clients, against 1.5% across the market, a rough size on a small count. Partner moves climbed, most movers litigate, and a firm hiring in-house should expect candidates who arrive with colleagues.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Project Development Lawyers: A Power and Renewables Bench
Project development is power and renewables work: those clients were involved in 57.6% of its dated matters over three years. Hiring held flat (-7.7%), and it runs through firms of 1,000+ lawyers and through London and Houston.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Project Finance Deals Rose in 2026 and Pulled Partners
Project and infrastructure finance deals rose 22.0% on settled 12-month windows, and the projects practice answered with partners: partner hiring held flat (+16.5%) while hiring at all levels held flat (+1.3%). Across the whole market, partner and total hiring moved together.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Project Finance Lawyers: A Large-Firm Market
Project finance hiring is a large-firm market on both sides of the move: firms of 1,000+ lawyers took 82.6% of laterals, against 53.6% market-wide, and over 3 years 76.2% of movers had left a firm of that size, against 56.6%. Power and renewables drive the work.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Projects and Infrastructure Deals 2026: Power and Renewables Lead
Power and renewables clients appear in 57.1% of projects and infrastructure deals, 13.9 times their share of the whole market, and 70.4% of the work is project finance. Deals rose 26.2% on settled windows while lateral hiring held flat (+1.3%).
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Projects and Infrastructure Lateral Hiring 2026: A Partner Market
Projects firms are hiring partners, not teams. Partners make up 38.6% of moves against 27.7% market-wide, but partner moves held flat (+16.5%) and the practice as a whole held flat (+1.3%) while the market grew. Houston hires at an index of 409.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Projects and Infrastructure Partners 2026: Made Late, Hired Instead
Projects and infrastructure lawyers reach partner later than the market: 66.9% within 12 years, against 75.4%. Firms fill the gap from outside, promoting 0.54 for each lateral partner hired (market 0.79), while lateral partner moves in the practice held flat (+16.5%), a gap inside the noise at these counts.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Property First, Workouts Second in a Shrinking Hospitality Market
Hospitality and leisure deal flow fell 8.6% while the whole deal market rose 10.6%. The work that remains tilts to property transactions and restructuring, and capital markets sits below the market share, so a hotel or leisure company should buy property and workout depth first.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Provider Product Liability Counsel in 2026: On 11.0% of Deals
Product liability lawyers worked on 11.0% of healthcare provider and payor deals, between their 21.3% share of individual and consumer matters and 5.0% of consumer goods deals. Providers and payors in turn appear on 12.3% of the practice's own deals.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Public Company Reporting Hiring Is Associate-Led: 61.1% of Moves
Associates were 61.1% of public company reporting moves and partners 25.2%, against 31.5% partners in capital markets and 27.7% market-wide. Partner hiring held flat (-25.0%).
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Public Law Lateral Hiring in 2026: A Washington Market
Public law hiring is a Washington market: 26.0% of lateral moves land in the capital, an index of 464 against the market. Volume held flat (-4.9%) while the market rose 9.0%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Public Law Matters in 2026: Clients Are Institutions, Not Companies
Public law work is bought by governments, nonprofits and schools, and 80.6% of it is contested. Matters rose 8.8% on settled windows while lateral hiring in the practice held flat (-4.9%).
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Public Law Path to Partner 2026: No Rush to Buy Partners
Public law lateral partner hiring held flat (-1.0%) while partner moves across the market rose 8.4%. Firms make partners at the market's own ratio, and the median new partner gets there in 10.0 years, though a long tail lifts the average.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Public Law Work for Individuals in 2026: Washington Ahead of New York
26.1% of individuals and consumers deals were handled with lawyers in Washington, DC, against 20.3% in New York, while government work runs the other way. Public law lawyers sit on 18.7% of the sector's deals, so a shortlist for this work should test Washington teams first.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Public Sector Counsel in 2026: Two Firm Lists, No Shared Name
Eight of the ten firms most active on government and public sector deals share the 21-40 band, and none of the ten is on the public law practice's list. Public law lawyers sit on 21.5% of the sector's deals.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Public Sector Lawyers Move Cities: 26.0% of Moves Change City
Lawyers who focus on government work change city more often than the rest of the lateral market, and they join large firms less often. A public body that searches nationally, and looks hard at mid-size firms, is fishing where this bench actually moves.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Raleigh Lateral Partner Market 2026: Volume Up, Partner Share Thin
Raleigh firms hired lateral lawyers at a pace that left the market and Charlotte behind, a rise of 80.0% year on year. Partners were not the engine: they made up 18.2% of Raleigh moves over three years against 26.9% across the market, and firms under 150 lawyers took 2.0 times their market share of hires.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Real Estate and Construction Lawyers Go In-House Below Market Rate
Real estate and construction lawyers leave firms for companies less often than the market does, at 11.3 and 9.4 moves per hundred lateral moves against 13.1. Firms keep adding real estate associates and counsel while property deal counts climb, so a company should plan a longer search below partner level.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Real Estate Counsel for Asset Managers: A Median 3.0 Times Larger
Disclosed asset manager deals carry a median 3.0 times the real estate practice's, though that median covers all of the sector's work. Real estate lawyers sat on 6.7% of asset manager deals, and asset managers were 11.1% of real estate practice deals.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Real Estate Counsel Is Local: Smaller Shares in Every Hub City
In every hub city that appears on both lists, a smaller share of real estate deals than of sponsor deals had lawyers there, from New York at 31.7% against 43.2% to London at 12.8% against 29.5%. A property company buys its legal work city by city.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Real Estate Deals 2026: Institutional Capital Drives the Work
Property companies and institutional investors account for most real estate deal work: real estate clients appear in 59.0% of deals, asset managers in 11.1%. Deals rose 9.6% while lateral partner hiring in the practice held flat (-8.6%).
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Real Estate Deals in 2026: No Firm Stands Clear of the Field
Real estate deal work has no dominant adviser: the first two firms sit in the 41-60 band of deals advised and the other eight in 21-40. Real estate deals rose 10.3% while real estate partner hiring held flat (-8.6%).
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Real Estate Development Partner Hiring: Partners Match Associates
Real estate development hires partners as often as associates, 41.6% each, against a partner share of 28.9% for real estate as a whole. Its first hiring city is London, and New York sits well under its market weight.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Real Estate Finance Counsel in 2026: Two Partner Markets Pull Apart
Banking and finance partners changed firms more often, 604 against 546, while partners focused on real estate moved less, 413 against 471. Property companies, whose deals carry a finance lawyer 9.6% of the time, buy from both markets at once.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Real Estate Finance Hiring in 2026: New York Pulls Ahead
Real estate finance is the New York end of real estate: 19.5% of its lateral moves land there, an index of 132 against the market, while the practice sits at 14.0%. The share runs 2.1 points above its 3-year average.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Real Estate Lateral Hiring 2026: Moves Up, Partner Line Flat
Real estate lateral moves rose 7.9% on the settled year, but the partner line held flat (-8.6%), from 476 to 435, while partner moves across the market rose 8.4%. The extra volume sits with associates and counsel.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Real Estate Lawyers in 2026: Hired by More Firms Than Any Sector
Real estate lawyers who moved spread across 320 hiring firms, the widest base of any sector, and fewer of them joined firms of 1,000+ lawyers than the market does. Associates are the majority and partner moves fell while the market's rose: a company hiring juniors can recruit from many mid-size firms, and a senior search has to go to partners who are staying put.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Real Estate Leasing Lawyers in 2026: A Mid-Size Firm Market
Leasing is the part of real estate where mid-size firms do the hiring: firms of 400-999 lawyers took 33.1% of moves, and firms of 1,000+ lawyers only 39.6%, against 53.6% in the whole market.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Real Estate Legal Work Splits in Two: Property and Capital Markets
Real estate companies buy property transactions at 13.0 times the market's rate and capital markets financing at the market's own rate. Different lawyers do each, so a panel built for one proves little about the other.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Real Estate Litigation Lawyers in 2026: Beyond the Big Platforms
Real estate litigators move away from the largest firms: 28.8% joined firms of 1,000+ lawyers in 12 months, while firms of 150-399 lawyers and under 150 lawyers together took 41.2%, against 29.1% across the real estate practice.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Real Estate Partner Track 2026: 0.65 Promotions per Lateral Partner
Firms made 308 real estate partners in the 12 months to May 2026, yet promoted only 0.65 for each lateral partner they hired, against 0.79 market-wide. The lateral partner count held flat (-8.6%) on the settled year, so the gap is the practice's normal mix, not a hiring spree.
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 - Regulatory and Antitrust Deals: European Firms Hold Four of the Top 10
Regulatory and antitrust is the smallest deal type on record, and its adviser list does not mirror the deal market: a European firm ranks first and four of the top 10 are European. The count fell 19.2% on settled windows while antitrust partner hiring held steady.
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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