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- Regulatory Lawyer Lateral Moves in 2026: A Market of Senior Hires
Regulatory and compliance hiring runs senior: partners were 42.5% and counsel 16.0% of lateral moves, against 27.7% and 12.7% market-wide. Volume held flat, so every senior hire comes out of a pool that is not growing.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - REIT and Property Capital Markets Counsel: 4.7% of the Bench's Deals
Property companies need capital markets lawyers on 27.4% of their deals, yet real estate is the client sector on only 4.7% of capital markets deals, against 13.8% for banks and 13.7% for pharma and biotech. To its capital markets firm, a REIT is a small client.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - REIT and Real Estate Fund Lawyers Go to Firms of 1,000+ Lawyers
REIT and real estate fund lawyers move to the largest firms: firms of 1,000+ lawyers took 76.1% of their lateral moves, against 44.0% in real estate and 53.6% in the market. Partners made 50.0% of those moves.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Renewable Energy Project Counsel in 2026: Deals Outgrow the Bench
Power and renewables deals rose 27.6% on settled 12-month windows, while the count of power-focused lawyers who changed firms held flat (-5.5%). The projects practice already puts 57.1% of its deals into this one sector, so the extra work lands on teams that are not getting bigger through hiring.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Renewables Finance Counsel in 2026: Power Is the Second Client Sector
Power and renewables are the banking and finance practice's second client sector, on 7.8% of its deals after banks at 17.8%. Seen from the sector, finance lawyers sit on 12.0% of power deals, alongside projects, corporate and capital markets teams.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Restructuring Deals 2026: Partner Hiring Runs Ahead of the Work
Firms added restructuring partners faster than the recorded work grew: lateral partner hires rose 21.1% while the matter count held flat (-5.5%). The matters that disclose a value are large, at a median of $620 million.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Restructuring Deals Fell in 2026 While the Deal Market Rose
Restructuring and insolvency shrank while every deal type with a larger record grew: it fell 10.4% while all dated deals rose 10.6%. Firms hired into the fall anyway, and restructuring lateral partner hires rose 21.1%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Restructuring Lateral Hiring 2026: Partners Are 41.5% of Moves
Restructuring is a partner market. Partners are 41.5% of its lateral moves against 27.7% market-wide, and partner moves rose 21.1%, faster than the practice as a whole, which rose 10.0%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Restructuring Path to Partner: The Practice That Buys Most Partners
Restructuring makes fewer partners per lateral hire than any other practice: 0.47 promotions for each lateral partner, against 0.79 across all practices. The track itself is not the reason: 73.0% of its partners were promoted within 12 years, close to the market's 75.4%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Retirement Plan Lawyers: Chicago and Washington Lead the Moves
Retirement and pension plan hiring runs through Chicago and Washington, DC: over three years they took 13.3% and 12.1% of moves, against 7.0% and 7.4% in the wider benefits practice, which New York leads at 17.5%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - San Diego Associate Market 2026: Job Openings Run Ahead of Moves
San Diego lists more law-firm openings than Seattle or Denver, and its share of open roles is 1.6 times its share of lateral moves, against 0.6 in Los Angeles. Firms here advertise for associates more than the moves alone suggest.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - San Diego Lateral Partner Market 2026: A Disputes Bench
Litigation is in 65.7% of San Diego lateral partner moves, about two in three, an index of 166 against the market and above Los Angeles at 145. Employment work runs at an index of 303 at all levels: the city's partner market is a disputes bench.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - San Diego Litigation Hiring Leans on Class Action Lawyers
Class actions are the focus of 25.6% of San Diego litigation laterals over three years, level with commercial litigation at 26.9%, and San Diego's index on class action hiring, 459, is the highest of any city with published figures. 23.2% of the city's litigation moves changed city, with Los Angeles the largest outside source.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - San Francisco Associates 2026: In-House Pull at 1.7 Times the Market
San Francisco sends lawyers to companies at 1.7 times the market rate, the highest of any city with a published count. Its lateral moves lean into intellectual property and technology, two practices that take a larger share of in-house moves than of moves between firms.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - San Francisco Employment Hiring Runs on Associates: 70.1%
San Francisco employment hiring leans on associates more than the practice or the city does, and counsel are scarce at 7.8% of moves. Over 3 years the top 10 hirers took 42.4% of moves, against 26.6% across the practice.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - San Francisco IP Laterals: 11.2% Arrived as Part of a Team
Intellectual property hiring in San Francisco runs on teams more than either reference market does: 11.2% of laterals arrived with colleagues, against 5.1% for the practice as a whole and 2.4% for the city. Counsel make up 17.3% of the moves, and pharma and biotech companies are the client on 31.1% of the matters on record.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - San Francisco Litigation Hiring Held Flat as the City Rose 30.1%
Lateral moves into San Francisco litigation groups held flat on the year, while the city's lateral market rose 30.1% and litigation across the practice rose 7.5%. The partner hiring that did happen sat with few firms.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - San Francisco M&A Hiring: Venture Deals Are 24.3% of the Work
San Francisco M&A lawyers do venture work at a rate New York does not approach: venture and growth deals are 24.3% of their deals over 3 years, against 7.5% in New York M&A, and technology clients sit on 31.3% of them against 15.3%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - San Francisco Partner Market 2026: An IP Market That Buys Partners
San Francisco hires intellectual property partners at an index of 288 against the market, and its firms promote 0.55 lawyers to partner per lateral partner hired, against 0.79 across the market. Partner hiring held steady while the rest of the city's market grew.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Seattle Associate Market 2026: Fewer Lawyers Leave for Companies
Seattle firms send lawyers to companies at a lower rate than the market or San Francisco, despite the city's technology employers, and the city holds a larger slice of open roles than of lateral moves.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Seattle Lateral Partner Market 2026: Team Moves and a Few Hirers
Seattle hires in teams: 7.7% of its lateral moves came as group moves, against 1.5% nationally, and the top 10 partner hirers took 70.0% of partner arrivals.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Seattle Litigation Hiring Rose 50.0%, Far Faster Than the Practice
Seattle litigation hiring rose 50.0% in a year, while litigation across the practice rose 7.5% and Seattle as a whole held flat (+18.0%). Firms of 1,000+ lawyers absorbed 67.3% of the moves, against 43.3% across litigation.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Secondaries Lawyer Hiring Rose in 2026, and Partner Hiring Rose Most
Sartori & Partners data show secondaries and fund transactions hiring rose 40.4%, ahead of the funds practice and the lateral market, and partner hiring rose 74.3%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Sector Firms vs Generalists: Who Tops Deal Lists by Industry, 2026
The firm with the most deals overall also heads oil and gas, but sector firms come first in healthcare providers, pharma and biotech, and technology. In health care, the same firm leads the deal list and the lateral hiring list.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Securities Enforcement: Few Make Partner Within 8 Years
Securities enforcement lawyers wait for the title: only 9.0% of recent new partners got there within 8 years, against 23.2% market-wide. Firms fill the gap from outside: partners are 57.3% of lateral moves, and hiring rose 30.6%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Securities Litigation Hiring in 2026: A New York Market
Securities litigation hiring is centered on New York to a degree litigation as a whole is not: 37.7% of moves over 3 years, against 12.9%. Partner hiring rose 38.2% while hiring at all levels held flat (+8.2%).
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Semiconductor Capital Markets in 2026: Deals Up, Partner Hiring Flat
Electronics and semiconductor deals rose 33.9% year on year while capital markets lateral partner hiring held flat (+1.1%). Capital markets lawyers sit on 52.5% of the sector's deals, so a chip issuer competes for partner time in a lateral market that did not grow.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Semiconductor Deals Rose 33.9% in 2026: Capital Markets Carried It
Deals in electronics and semiconductors rose 33.9% against 10.6% for all deals. Capital markets work appears on 52.7% of the sector's deals, 2.1 times the market rate, and Hong Kong and Beijing rank among its ten busiest cities, which technology and software does not show.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Semiconductor M&A Counsel in 2026: Hong Kong Ahead of San Francisco
Lawyers in Hong Kong worked on 14.9% of electronics and semiconductor deals, more than San Francisco at 12.8%, and Beijing makes the same city list. Corporate and M&A lawyers sit on 29.0% of the sector's deals, second to capital markets lawyers at 52.5%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Semiconductor Patent Lawyers Move in Two Cities: 21.1% of Moves Each
Lawyers whose focus is electronics and semiconductors carry intellectual property on 89.1% of their moves and litigation on 72.7%, and they join firms in San Francisco and Washington at 21.1% each. A chip company hiring in-house IP counsel recruits from IP litigation teams, not from its deal lawyers.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Senior In-House Hires: Counsel Move to Companies as Often as Partners
Counsel and partners leave law firms for companies in almost equal numbers (114 against 105), while partners outnumber counsel 2.2 to one in moves between firms. Below the general counsel, the counsel tier is the senior pool that actually moves.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Singapore Partner Market 2026: More Banking Than Hong Kong or Sydney
Banking and finance features in Singapore lateral moves at an index of 174 against the market, and corporate work at 144. Moves into the city held flat (+0.0%) year on year while the market rose 9.0%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Six Firms Share the Top Band on Medical Device Deals
The ten busiest advisers on medical device deals sit in two adjacent bands, so a device company can choose its counsel on team and price. Capital markets is the largest type of work, at 43.9% of deals, and the sector's deal count held flat while the market rose.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Small Law Firms Are Net Suppliers to Mid-Size Firms, Not Big Law
Firms under 150 lawyers sent 1,177 lawyers to other firms and received 1,014, and the surplus went to firms of 400-999 lawyers and 150-399 lawyers. With firms of 1,000+ lawyers the exchange ran slightly the other way, and small-firm lawyers leave no faster than anyone else's.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Software Patent Lawyer Hiring: San Francisco and Washington
Electrical, computer and software patent hiring runs through two cities. San Francisco indexes at 535 and Washington, DC at 346 against the market, while New York sits at 80.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Southeast Time to Partner 2026: Two Clocks, Miami and Charlotte
Miami promotes 32.9% of its new partners within 8 years, Charlotte 7.0%, while medians stay between 9.0 years and 10.0 years: the region runs at least two partner clocks.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Sponsor Finance Counsel in 2026: On Just 6.0% of Sponsor Deals
Finance lawyers appear on 6.0% of sponsor deals, a thinner share than on bank, power or real estate deals. Sponsors still account for 6.6% of the finance practice's own deals, so a sponsor buys from a bench whose main work lies elsewhere.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Sports IP Counsel in 2026: 33.1% of Sports Deals, 2.1% of IP's
Intellectual property is the practice sports companies lean on most: IP lawyers sat on 33.1% of the sector's deals. Seen from the IP side, sports was 2.1% of the practice's deals, so a sports client is a small account on a busy bench.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Sports Legal Work Runs on Intellectual Property: Firms and Cities
Intellectual property lawyers appear on 33.1% of sports deals, 3.0 times their share across the deal market. For a sports organization, outside counsel is first a matter of protecting brands and rights, and one firm stands a band clear of the rest.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - St. Louis Lateral Partner Market 2026: Where Regional Firms Hire
Regional firms set the pace: firms of 150-399 lawyers took 35.6% of lateral moves in the city over 12 months, 2.7 times their market share and far above Chicago or Minneapolis. Overall volume held flat.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Structured Finance Hires with the Cycle: The 2026 Lateral Market
Structured finance hiring swings harder than the practice around it: lateral moves fell sharply in 2023 and peaked in 2025. On the settled 12-month measure the speciality held flat (-0.4%), while banking and finance rose 14.1%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Sydney Associate Market 2026: Hired Locally, Lost to London
London takes about one in five lawyers who leave Sydney firms for another law firm, 18.2% over 12 months and 22.3% over three years, while 63.4% of Sydney hires come from another Sydney firm. The associate bench is built at home and lost to London.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Sydney Lateral Partner Market 2026: Senior Moves Outweigh Associates
Partners and counsel made 56.9% of Sydney lateral moves over 12 months, against 40.4% across the market and 40.7% in Hong Kong. Sydney firms also promote 1.06 partners for each lateral partner they hire, against 0.79 market-wide.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Tampa Lateral Partner Market 2026: A Market Built by Smaller Firms
Tampa hires through smaller firms: firms of 1,000+ lawyers took 16.1% of its lateral moves over 12 months, 30.0% of their market share and far below Miami's 50.7%. Firms of under 150 lawyers took 2.4 times theirs.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Tampa Litigation Hiring 2026: Midsize Firms Take the Laterals
Litigation in Tampa is hired by firms of 400-999 lawyers and 150-399 lawyers, which took 63.2% of the city's litigation laterals over three years. The largest firms, which take 43.3% of litigation moves overall, take 13.2% here.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Tax Controversy Is a Senior Market, and Hiring Held Flat in 2026
Tax controversy is a senior market: partners took 45.4% of moves and counsel 16.3%, and 18.4% of movers joined at a higher title. Hiring held flat (+20.2%) year on year, even as the tax practice rose 23.8%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Tax Lateral Hiring in 2026: Partner Moves Outpace the Market
Tax partner moves rose 27.7% year on year, 3.3 times the market's partner rise of 8.4%. Partners now make up 37.9% of tax laterals, against 27.7% market-wide.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Tax Partner in New York: Made Later Than the City, Hired More
New York makes tax partners late: 12.1% were promoted within 8 years against 20.3% across the city, and the median ran 1 year longer. Firms buy instead: lateral partner moves into New York tax rose 65.2% while the city's partner moves held flat (+3.7%).
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Team Moves Are 1.5% of Law Firm Laterals, and They Cluster
Almost all lateral hiring happens one lawyer at a time. The exceptions cluster: arbitration, technology and data, and intellectual property see team moves at several times the market rate, while corporate and M&A sits at 0.2%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Team Moves by City: 17.9% in Minneapolis, 1.5% Overall
Lawyers rarely change firms as a group: 1.5% of lateral moves were team moves over the latest 12 months. The exceptions are mid-sized cities, with Minneapolis at 17.9%, not the largest markets.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Tech Capital Markets in 2026: A Flat Sector Beside a Rising Practice
Technology companies' deal flow held flat (+4.6%) in a year when the capital markets practice rose 10.0%. Capital markets lawyers sit on 24.0% of tech deals against 53.1% of pharma deals, so a tech issuer hires a bench whose growth comes from elsewhere.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Tech Companies Compete With Each Other for In-House Lawyers in 2026
The companies that hire the most lawyers out of law firms are mostly technology companies, so a tech employer's real rival for in-house talent is another tech employer. The pools to recruit from are privacy and IP lawyers, and San Francisco, which over-indexes at 557 as a destination.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Tech Companies' IP Counsel in 2026: IP Lawyers on Just 11.3% of Deals
Technology and software is the client sector on 7.0% of intellectual property deals, second of the twelve sectors listed, yet IP lawyers worked on only 11.3% of the sector's own deals, against 31.9% in consumer goods, 29.5% in food and 26.3% in media. In tech, IP is a minority bench beside corporate lawyers, who sat on 47.8% of the sector's deals.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Tech Company Finance Counsel in 2026: Clients Come Back Less Often
Technology and software companies spread 3,279 deals across 1,713 clients, a lower return rate than banks, pharma or the finance practice's own clients. Finance lawyers worked on 3.8% of technology deals.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Technology and Privacy Lateral Hiring 2026: Companies Compete Too
Companies hire technology and privacy lawyers out of firms at 2.3 times the market rate, more than twice as often per lateral move, while lateral partner moves in the practice rose 44.4% against a market that rose 8.4%.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Technology and Privacy Path to Partner: Normal Clock, Hiring Surge
Technology, data and privacy lawyers make partner on the market's clock, a median of 10.0 years against 10.0 years. The change is at the lateral door: partner moves rose 44.4% against 8.4% market-wide, and firms promoted 0.76 partners per lateral partner hired, against 0.79.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Technology transactions lawyers: London sets the pace
London is where technology transactions hiring concentrates: its 12-month share indexes at 163 against the market, and over 3 years it took 16.1% of moves to New York's 8.1%. Overall hiring held flat (+18.9%), steady rather than rising.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Telecom Capital Markets Counsel in 2026: Sector Specialists Move More
More telecom-focused lawyers changed firms this year: the count rose 33.3%, while capital markets lateral hiring held flat (+6.7%). Capital markets lawyers sit on 35.6% of telecom deals, more than any other practice.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Telecom Deals Carry the Highest Median Value: Run the Pitch Wide
Where a telecom deal discloses its value, the median is $1,077.5 million, higher than in any other industry we track. The work leans to offerings and acquisitions, and the firms ranked second to tenth sit in one band of deals advised, so a telecom company can put large mandates out to a real contest.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Telecom Lawyers Gather in Washington: A Regulatory Bench on the Move
Over three years, 15.7% of lawyers with a telecom focus who changed firms joined a Washington firm, against 5.2% of all lateral moves, and regulatory work shows up in their moves at an index of 969 against the market. The count of moves rose 33.3% while the count of partner moves held flat (+28.2%): a telecom company hiring regulatory counsel recruits in Washington.
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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