Restructuring & Insolvency · speciality monitor
Creditors' Rights & Collections: lateral monitor
Lawyers whose work centers on Creditors' Rights & Collections and who changed firm over the last 12 months, set against the Restructuring & Insolvency practice and the market.
The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026
- 177
- Lateral moves, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- +5.9%
- Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
- 48.6%
- Partner share of moves
- 109
- Firms that hired
What the data show
From November 2025 to October 2026, Sartori & Partners recorded 177 lateral moves in Creditors' Rights & Collections. On settled windows the count went from 169 to 179 (+5.9%), a change inside the noise of the two counts, so we read it as flat.
| Measure | Here | Restructuring & Insolvency | Market |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner share of moves | 48.6% | 41.5% | 27.7% |
| Counsel share of moves | 17.5% | 14.6% | 12.7% |
| Associate share of moves | 33.9% | 43.3% | 58.5% |
| Moved up a level | 19.2% | 16.5% | 12.9% |
| Changed city | 15.2% | 17.8% | 20.5% |
| Hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers | 46.6% | 56.2% | 53.6% |
| Year on year | flat (+5.9%) | rose (+10.0%) | 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 A dash is a value we do not publish.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 Restructuring & Insolvency practice as a whole, the widest gap is the share hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers, which is lower here: 46.6% against 56.2%. Year on year it held flat while the Restructuring & Insolvency practice as a whole rose.
Over the three years to October 2026, 524 lawyers moved in Creditors' Rights & Collections, 258 of them partners (49.2%). They joined 240 different firms. 16.4% stepped up a level on the move and 16.5% changed city, against 12.3% and 21.6% across the market over the same three years. 55.6% came from firms with 1,000+ lawyers.
- Partner48.6%
- Counsel17.5%
- Associate33.9%
Partners make up 48.6% of arrivals, against 27.7% across the market: a partner-heavy flow. On settled windows partner moves alone went from 89 to 86 (-3.4%), which we read as flat. 19.2% of movers stepped up a level when they changed firm, against 12.9% for the market.
- 1,000+ lawyers46.6%
- 400-999 lawyers22.7%
- 150-399 lawyers20.5%
- under 150 lawyers10.2%
The 12-month firm table is below our naming threshold, so this part reads the three years to October 2026. 240 firms hired at least one lateral in Creditors' Rights & Collections in the window. The ten firms at the head of the hiring table took 15.5% of arrivals (12.2% market-wide), so hiring here is moderately concentrated. First on the hiring table is Troutman Pepper Locke, with arrivals in the 11-20 band.
- 1,000+ lawyers55.6%
- 400-999 lawyers21.5%
- 150-399 lawyers11.0%
- under 150 lawyers11.8%
New York ranks first among destination cities with 20.9% of arrivals. A change of city came with 15.2% of moves (market 20.5%).
There were 55 open roles in Creditors' Rights & Collections on law-firm career pages on November 11, 2026.
For a firm planning a hire in Creditors' Rights & Collections, 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 | Troutman Pepper Locke | 11-20 |
| 2 | Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld | 6-10 |
| 3 | King & Spalding | 6-10 |
| 4 | Simmons & Simmons | 6-10 |
| 5 | Hinshaw & Culbertson | 6-10 |
| 6 | Ashurst Perkins Coie | 6-10 |
| 7 | Clark Hill | 6-10 |
| 8 | DLA Piper | 6-10 |
| 9 | Dentons | 6-10 |
| 10 | Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher | 6-10 |
| Rank | Firm | Moves (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | King & Spalding | 6-10 |
| 2 | Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld | 3-5 |
| 3 | Ashurst Perkins Coie | 3-5 |
| 4 | Spencer Fane | 3-5 |
| 5 | Troutman Pepper Locke | 3-5 |
| 6 | Dentons | 3-5 |
| 7 | Bradley Arant Boult Cummings | 3-5 |
| 8 | Katten Muchin Rosenman | 3-5 |
| 9 | Simmons & Simmons | 3-5 |
| 10 | DLA Piper | 3-5 |
Deals in Creditors' Rights & Collections
Sartori & Partners data count 129 dated deals in Creditors' Rights & Collections in the 12 months to October 2026 and 421 over the three years to October 2026.
Restructuring & insolvency work is involved in 83.1% of them and Banking & lending in 6.4%.
By client industry, Banks & Financial Institutions comes first with 17.3%.
Davis Polk & Wardwell ranks first among advising firms over the period, in the 41-60 band.
| Rank | Firm | Deals (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Davis Polk & Wardwell | 41-60 |
| 2 | Aird & Berlis LLP | 21-40 |
| 3 | Willkie Farr & Gallagher | 21-40 |
| 4 | Milbank | 21-40 |
| 5 | Kirkland & Ellis | 11-20 |
| 6 | Paul Hastings | 11-20 |
| 7 | Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison | 11-20 |
| 8 | Loyens & Loeff | 11-20 |
| 9 | Latham & Watkins | 11-20 |
| 10 | Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher | 11-20 |
Time to partner in Creditors' Rights & Collections
42 lawyers were promoted to partner in Creditors' Rights & Collections in the 12 months to May 2026, 247 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 14.0 years, against a market median of 10.0 years. 65.8% made partner within 12 years.
These figures rest on 199 promotions.
Related monitors and reports
Other specialities in Restructuring & Insolvency
Hiring in this market
Reports
- Creditors' Rights Lawyers: The Long Road to Partner
Creditors' rights is one of the slower routes to partnership: a median of 11.0 years from first year of practice, and only 14.1% promoted within 8 years. The lateral market it feeds is partner-heavy, with partners at 48.6% of moves.
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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