Who Hires Criminal Defense Lawyers in 2026: A Fragmented Field

Criminal defense lawyer hiring is spread across a wide field of buyers. Sartori & Partners data show 100 firms hired at least one criminal defense lawyer in the last 12 months, and 211 firms did so over three years. No single firm sets the pace. For a firm planning its next criminal defense hire, that cuts two ways. The candidate pool is not locked up by a few repeat bidders, but there is also no clear price-setter whose offers define the market. This report reads the 153 lateral moves of the last 12 months and the 540 moves of the last three years against two white-collar neighbors, anti-bribery and corruption and securities enforcement, and against the lateral market as a whole.

Over three years, the ten firms that hired the most criminal defense lawyers took 17.6% of individual hires. In anti-bribery and corruption the same ten-firm share was 24.4%, a gap of 6.8 points. In securities enforcement it was 21.8%. Both neighbors also drew on fewer buyers: 128 firms hired in anti-bribery over three years and 136 in securities enforcement, against 211 in criminal defense.

Criminal defense sits close to its parent practice on this measure. Across white collar, investigations and criminal work as a whole, the ten busiest firms took 16.1% of three-year hires, and across the full lateral market the figure was 12.2%. Of the three specialties compared here, criminal defense carries the largest share of the practice's moves: 30.3%, against 18.9% for anti-bribery and 19.5% for securities enforcement.

For a hiring partner, a dispersed field means a contest for one candidate is rarely a straight fight between two familiar rivals. The firms on the other side of an offer change from search to search, so pricing a criminal defense package against a fixed peer group is less reliable here than in anti-bribery work.

Over three years, Paul Hastings ranked first among firms hiring criminal defense lawyers, in the 11-20 band, followed by Steptoe and Greenberg Traurig in the same band. The other seven names in the top 10 all sit one band lower, at 6-10. Paul Hastings, Steptoe, Greenberg Traurig and Eversheds Sutherland also appear in the white-collar practice's three-year top 10; the rest of the list does not.

The partner ranking over three years is led by Greenberg Traurig, in the 6-10 band, and it shares most of its names with the all-level list. The bands sit close together, so a firm that adds a handful of criminal defense lawyers in a year can move into this group. For a firm benchmarking itself, the useful question is not who leads but which of these names bid on the same candidates it wants.

In the latest settled 12 months, firms hired 73 criminal defense partners, against 96 in the 12 months before: partner hiring fell 24.0%. Hiring at all levels held flat (-15.2%), at 151 moves against 178. The wider practice and the market did not share the partner decline: white-collar partner hiring held flat (+5.5%), and partner hiring across the lateral market rose 8.4%.

Even after the fall, partners made up 51.0% of criminal defense moves in the last 12 months, against 41.6% in the practice and 27.7% across the market. Associates took 38.6% of moves and counsel 10.5%. Firms also promoted 54 criminal defense lawyers to partner in the 12 months to May 2026, after a median of 11.0 years from the first year of practice.

The consequence is a thinner partner flow inside a steady overall market. A firm seeking a criminal defense partner is fishing in a smaller stream than a year ago, while associate and counsel searches face roughly the same supply. Where the partner search stalls, a promotion from within or a senior counsel hire is a realistic second route.

Over three years, firms of 1,000+ lawyers took 48.8% of criminal defense moves to firms of known size, against 65.5% in anti-bribery and 58.0% in securities enforcement. Firms of 400-999 lawyers took 30.2% of criminal defense moves, and firms of 150-399 lawyers 14.0%. The last 12 months tell the same story: the largest firms took 47.7%, against 53.6% across the lateral market.

This is the size profile behind the dispersed ranking. A midsize firm recruiting in criminal defense competes in a segment where firms of its size already win a real share of hires, which is much less the case in anti-bribery work. A large firm, for its part, should expect to meet midsize rivals on criminal defense candidates more often than in anti-bribery searches.

New York took 22.2% of criminal defense moves in the last 12 months, an index of 150 against the market. Washington, DC took 17.6%, an index of 314. The capital weighs less here than next door: its index is 551 in anti-bribery, 341 in securities enforcement and 351 across the white-collar practice.

Over three years the map reaches further: London took 8.1% of criminal defense moves, Los Angeles 7.2% and Paris 5.0%. Few movers relocate. Only 13.8% of criminal defense laterals changed city in the last 12 months, against 20.5% across the market. A criminal defense bench is built from the local pool: Washington offers the deepest pool relative to its size, New York the largest in absolute terms.

In the Sartori & Partners lateral database, criminal defense is a market without a price-setter: 211 firms hired over three years and the ten busiest took 17.6%. Four practical points follow. First, map competitors per search rather than per year, because the firms bidding against you shift with each candidate. Second, treat partner supply as tight: partner hiring fell 24.0% while the whole white-collar practice held its partner pace. Third, a midsize platform is credible to criminal defense candidates, since firms of 400-999 lawyers took 30.2% of three-year moves. Fourth, plan around the city: with few movers relocating, a Washington or New York vacancy is filled from that city's own bench, and a firm without a presence in either should expect a longer search.