Civil Fraud and Asset Recovery Hiring Rose 68.6%, Led from London

Firms that want asset recovery lawyers are recruiting in a market that grew sharply this year. Sartori & Partners data show 59 lateral moves by lawyers whose focus is civil fraud and asset recovery in the settled 12 months to September 2026, against 35 in the 12 months before: the count rose 68.6%. Litigation and disputes, the practice group the speciality is listed under, rose 7.5%, and the whole lateral market rose 9.0%. Two features set this bench apart from the rest of litigation. Its hiring is concentrated in London, and most of the people who move are partners. A firm building a fraud team should expect to compete for senior names in one city, not to fill associate seats across many.

The speciality outran its practice by a wide margin. In the Sartori & Partners lateral database, civil fraud and asset recovery moves rose 68.6% year on year. Litigation and disputes went from 5,281 to 5,679 over the same window, a rise of 7.5%, and the market rose 9.0%, from 13,128 to 14,305. Fraud work is a small seam of the practice: moves by these lawyers recorded under litigation made up 0.9% of litigation's moves in 12 months. A practice total that grows slowly can hide a seam that is moving fast, and this is one.

The yearly series puts the jump in proportion. Civil fraud moves numbered 58 in 2022, 46 in 2023, 50 in 2024 and 36 in 2025. The partial 2026 count already stands at 51 through October, above every full year except 2022. Much of the rise recovers ground lost in 2025, when the count fell to its lowest point in the series. Counts this size can swing on a handful of moves, so the direction is clearer than the exact rate.

For a hiring partner, the timing matters. A bench that was quiet in 2025 is in motion again. A firm that waits for the count to settle will meet the same names a second time at a higher price.

Geography is where civil fraud breaks most clearly from its practice. Over three years, London took 31.0% of civil fraud and asset recovery moves, against 4.6% of litigation moves and 10.0% of all lateral moves. The city's share in this speciality is 6.7 times its share in litigation.

Movement between cities is a little more common here too. Over the last 12 months, 22.2% of civil fraud moves with both cities known also involved a change of city, against 19.6% in litigation. A firm without a London fraud team is recruiting from a pool whose center of gravity sits elsewhere. Budget for relocation, or plan to build the practice around a London hire.

Seniority is the second break from litigation. Partners made up 65.5% of civil fraud lateral moves in the last 12 months, against 27.4% in litigation and 27.7% in the whole market. Associates took 27.3% of civil fraud moves, against 57.7% in litigation. The longer view points the same way: over three years, partners made up 55.2% of civil fraud moves, against 27.3% of litigation moves.

Partner moves by year show where the 2026 rise sits. The partial 2026 count of 34 partner moves through October is already above every full year since 2022, when the count was 21. Step-ups are part of the pattern: 18.2% of civil fraud moves in 12 months came with a higher title, against 13.4% in litigation. Promotion is a slow route to the same seniority, with a median of 11.0 years from first year of practice to partner over five years. A firm that needs fraud partners now will mostly find them at other firms, and should price the search as a partner search from the start.

The size of the hiring firm also differs from litigation. Over three years, firms of 400-999 lawyers took 41.3% of civil fraud moves, against 26.7% of litigation moves and 25.0% across the market. Firms of 1,000+ lawyers took 40.6% of civil fraud moves, against 43.5% in litigation. Hiring is spread across 88 hiring firms over three years.

The firms that hired most over three years took 28.7% of individual civil fraud hires. That leaves most of the hiring outside the list, so a mid-size firm faces a contest it can win, not a field held by a few names. For a firm of 400-999 lawyers, this bench is one where its size class took a larger share than in litigation as a whole.

The matters on record explain the shape of the bench. Over three years, disputes and investigations made up 98.6% of civil fraud and asset recovery matters, and banks and financial institutions were the largest client group, at 17.9% of matters. Sartori & Partners data count 46 civil fraud matters on record in the last 12 months. This is contentious work for lenders and other institutions that need to trace and recover money, and it rewards partners who bring that relationship with them. A lateral candidate's financial institution relationships deserve as much weight in the interview as the cases they ran.

First, move now. Civil fraud and asset recovery moves rose 68.6% in the settled 12 months, so the pool in motion is larger than a year ago. Second, plan around London. With 31.0% of three-year moves landing there, a firm hiring elsewhere should either budget for relocation or anchor the team in a London office. Third, price it as a partner search: partners made up 65.5% of moves, so associate-level fraud specialists are a small part of the pool in motion. Fourth, test the client side. With banks and financial institutions the largest client group, ask each candidate which institutions instruct them and which would follow. A firm of 400-999 lawyers starts this search on equal terms with larger rivals.