Administrative Law: Partners Held Flat as Hiring Fell 21.8%

Administrative law attorney hiring shrank over the past year, but not at partner level. Sartori & Partners data show 104 administrative and constitutional law lateral moves in the latest settled 12 months against 133 the year before, so hiring fell 21.8%. Partner moves went from 44 to 41 over the same windows, so partner hiring held flat (-6.8%). The whole lateral market rose 9.0%. For a firm that wants an administrative law partner, the pool of candidates on the move did not thin the way the headline count suggests.

The yearly counts locate the change. Moves at every level peaked at 133 in 2024 and stood at 86 by October 2026. Partner moves also peaked in 2024, at 51, and had reached 38 by October, with two months of the year still to count.

The shortfall sits below partner level. Moves other than partner moves numbered 89 in the earlier settled window and 63 in the latest one. Associates and counsel account for almost all of the gap, while partners changed firms at much the same pace as a year earlier.

A firm planning an associate or counsel hire in this speciality will find fewer lawyers in motion than a year ago and should allow more time for the search. A partner search meets about the same flow of candidates as before, and the same competition for them.

Because the cut fell below partner, the level mix has tilted upward. In the 12 months to October 2026, partners made up 39.6% of the 101 administrative and constitutional law moves in the Sartori & Partners lateral database, the same share as associates. In public law and government, the practice these lawyers work within, partners were 34.1% of moves, and across all practices 27.7%.

Counsel are also heavier here than elsewhere: 18.8% of the speciality's moves, against 15.5% in the practice and 12.7% in the market. Over three years the speciality's partner share was 38.6%, so the latest year sits 1.0 points above the longer run. Title steps are common too: 14.9% of movers joined at a higher title than the one they left, against 13.2% in public law and 12.9% market-wide.

For a hiring firm, a partner mandate in administrative law is routine rather than rare. The senior end of this bench moves more freely than the junior end, and a counsel with a regulatory following may expect the partner title as part of the offer.

The speciality's fall is out of line with its practice and with the market. Public law and government moves numbered 308 in the latest settled 12 months against 324 the year before, so practice hiring held flat (-4.9%). Public law partner hiring held flat (-1.0%), at 104 partner moves against 105. Across all practices, lateral hiring rose 9.0%, from 13,128 to 14,305 moves, and partner hiring rose 8.4%.

Moves by administrative and constitutional lawyers recorded under the public law practice made up 22.0% of that practice's moves in the 12 months. Read by direction, the practice held steady while the speciality went down; at partner level the two held flat together. The administrative law decline is therefore specific to the speciality's junior and mid-level ranks rather than a sign of weaker public law hiring overall.

A firm that takes public law's steady count as a sign of a steady administrative law market will misjudge the associate and counsel pool. Only the partner pool tracks the practice.

Administrative and constitutional law hiring is concentrated in the capital. Washington, DC took 19.8% of the speciality's moves in the 12 months, against 5.6% of all lateral moves, an index of 353 against the market. Public law and government sits higher still, with an index of 464 for the city, so the speciality reaches beyond the capital more than its practice does.

Over three years the pattern holds. Washington, DC took 14.1% of the speciality's moves against 5.2% market-wide, while London took 6.2% against 10.0%. Relocation is uncommon: 18.3% of movers in the latest 12 months also changed city, against 20.5% across the market.

A search for an administrative law partner should start in Washington, where the bench is several times the market's weight. Outside the capital, plan on a local hire: candidates rarely move cities for the role.

The buyers are smaller than in the market at large. Of the speciality's moves to firms of known size, firms of 150-399 lawyers took 24.8%, against 13.3% across all practices, and firms of 1,000+ lawyers took 45.5%, against 53.6%. Firms of 400-999 lawyers took 23.8%, close to the market's 23.4%.

Hiring is also spread across many firms. In the 12 months, 71 firms hired at least one administrative and constitutional lawyer. Over three years, 187 firms hired in the speciality and the ten most active took 21.0% of the individual hires, against 16.3% in public law and 12.2% across the market. DLA Piper ranked first over three years, in the 11-20 band, followed by Norton Rose Fulbright and Fieldfisher.

The work behind these hires is contested work. Of the 1,808 administrative and constitutional law matters on record over three years, 91.8% were disputes and investigations, and 18.9% involved the government and public sector.

For a firm of 150-399 lawyers, the competition for an administrative law lawyer is often a peer of similar size, not only a global firm. A firm of 1,000+ lawyers is bidding in a smaller part of this market than it is used to.

Budget the partner search on last year's terms. Partner hiring held flat (-6.8%) on settled windows, so the partner flow, and the competition for each candidate, looks much as it did a year ago.

Expect a thinner junior bench. With hiring at every level down from 133 to 104 moves, the associates and counsel who would staff a new partner are harder to find than the partner. On the data date, 54 administrative and constitutional law openings were live on law-firm career pages.

Weigh promotion against hiring. In the Sartori & Partners figures, firms promoted 39 administrative and constitutional lawyers to partner in the 12 months to May 2026, after a median of 10.0 years in practice over 5 years of promotions. A firm that needs the capacity in this cycle will hire it; one with time can grow it.

Start in Washington and look at mid-size peers. The capital holds 19.8% of moves, and firms of 150-399 lawyers take a share well above their market weight.