Construction · speciality monitor
Construction Contracts: lateral monitor
Lawyers whose work centers on Construction Contracts and who changed firm over the last 12 months, set against the Construction practice and the market.
The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026
- 159
- Lateral moves, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- -11.0%
- Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
- 44.0%
- Partner share of moves
- 101
- Firms that hired
What the data show
From November 2025 to October 2026, Sartori & Partners recorded 159 lateral moves in Construction Contracts. On settled windows the count went from 181 to 161 (-11.0%), a change inside the noise of the two counts, so we read it as flat.
| Measure | Here | Construction | Market |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner share of moves | 44.0% | 32.0% | 27.7% |
| Counsel share of moves | 7.5% | 15.4% | 12.7% |
| Associate share of moves | 48.4% | 52.4% | 58.5% |
| Moved up a level | 12.6% | 16.8% | 12.9% |
| Changed city | 21.7% | 21.9% | 20.5% |
| Hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers | 40.8% | 34.0% | 53.6% |
| Year on year | flat (-11.0%) | flat (-1.8%) | rose (+9.0%) |
12 months to October 2026 unless the row says three years; a row switches to three years for every column when this page's 12-month value is not published. A dash is a value we do not publish. Flat means a change under 5% or inside the noise of the two counts.
Against the Construction practice as a whole, the widest gap is the partner share, which is higher here: 44.0% against 32.0%. Year on year it moved with the Construction practice as a whole: both flat.
Over the three years to October 2026, 520 lawyers moved in Construction Contracts, 211 of them partners (40.6%). They joined 223 different firms. 13.7% stepped up a level on the move and 23.8% changed city, against 12.3% and 21.6% across the market over the same three years. 44.5% came from firms with 1,000+ lawyers.
- Partner44.0%
- Counsel7.5%
- Associate48.4%
At 44.0%, the partner share of arrivals sits above the market's 27.7%. On settled 12-month windows partner moves alone showed no clear change: 68 against 71 (-4.2%). 12.6% of movers stepped up a level when they changed firm, against 12.9% for the market.
Lateral hires in Construction Contracts were spread across 101 firms. The ten firms at the head of the hiring table took 25.9% of arrivals (12.9% market-wide), so hiring here is moderately concentrated. Dentons ranks first by lateral arrivals, in the 6-10 band.
- 1,000+ lawyers44.5%
- 400-999 lawyers24.2%
- 150-399 lawyers15.5%
- under 150 lawyers15.8%
City figures here cover the three years to October 2026. London ranks first among destination cities with 9.6% of arrivals, followed by New York (6.5%). A change of city came with 21.7% of moves (market 20.5%).
There were 168 open roles in Construction Contracts on law-firm career pages on November 11, 2026.
For a firm planning a hire in Construction Contracts, a flat market means candidates are not being pulled by a wave: the case for a move has to come from the platform.
Firms by rank and band
Each firm appears as a rank and a band, never an exact count, and only with at least 10 moves in the window.
| Rank | Firm | Moves (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dentons | 6-10 |
| 2 | Greenberg Traurig | 3-5 |
| 3 | DLA Piper | 3-5 |
| 4 | Kirkland & Ellis | 3-5 |
| 5 | Nossaman | 3-5 |
| 6 | Brodies | 3-5 |
| 7 | Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe | 3-5 |
| 8 | CMS | 3-5 |
| 9 | White & Case | 3-5 |
| 10 | Baker Botts | 3-5 |
| Rank | Firm | Moves (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greenberg Traurig | 6-10 |
| 2 | Addleshaw Goddard | 6-10 |
| 3 | DLA Piper | 6-10 |
| 4 | Dentons | 6-10 |
| 5 | Taft Stettinius & Hollister | 6-10 |
| 6 | Eversheds Sutherland | 3-5 |
| 7 | Maynard Nexsen | 3-5 |
| 8 | Nossaman | 3-5 |
| 9 | Dickinson Wright | 3-5 |
| 10 | Freeths | 3-5 |
Deals in Construction Contracts
Sartori & Partners data count 21 dated deals in Construction Contracts in the 12 months to October 2026 and 40 over the three years to October 2026.
Real estate work is involved in 57.5% of them.
Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod ranks first among advising firms over the period, in the 6-10 band.
| Rank | Firm | Deals (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod | 6-10 |
| 2 | Simmons & Simmons | 3-5 |
| 3 | CMS | 3-5 |
Time to partner in Construction Contracts
50 lawyers were promoted to partner in Construction Contracts in the 12 months to May 2026, 236 over five years, according to Sartori & Partners data.
The median time from first year of practice to partner is 11.0 years, with the middle half between 9.0 years and 13.0 years, against a market median of 10.0 years. 68.6% made partner within 12 years.
These figures rest on 156 promotions.
Related monitors and reports
Other specialities in Construction
Hiring in this market
Reports
- Construction Contract Lawyers in 2026: Partners In, Few Counsel
Construction contracts hiring runs on partners, at 44.0% of moves, while counsel take 7.5%, a thinner tier than in construction as a whole. Partners can be hired from the market; the level below them mostly has to be built at home.
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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