Banking & Finance · speciality monitor
Derivatives: lateral monitor
Lawyers whose work centers on Derivatives and who changed firm over the last 12 months, set against the Banking & Finance practice and the market.
The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026
- 36
- Lateral moves, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- -16.7%
- Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
- 61.1%
- Partner share of moves
- 29
- Firms that hired
What the data show
Sartori & Partners data show 36 lateral moves in Derivatives from November 2025 to October 2026. On settled windows the count went from 42 to 35 (-16.7%), a change inside the noise of the two counts, so we read it as flat.
| Measure | Here | Banking & Finance | Market |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner share of moves | 61.1% | 30.8% | 27.7% |
| Counsel share of moves | 19.4% | 12.7% | 12.7% |
| Associate share of moves | 19.4% | 55.8% | 58.5% |
| Moved up a level | 19.4% | 13.1% | 12.9% |
| Changed city (three years) | 21.2% | 21.0% | 21.6% |
| Hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers | 80.6% | 63.8% | 53.6% |
| Year on year | flat (-16.7%) | rose (+14.1%) | 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 A dash is a value we do not publish.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 Banking & Finance practice as a whole, the widest gap is the associate share, which is lower here: 19.4% against 55.8%. Year on year it held flat while the Banking & Finance practice as a whole rose.
Over the three years to October 2026, 114 lawyers moved in Derivatives, 63 of them partners (55.3%). They joined 68 different firms. 17.5% stepped up a level on the move and 21.2% changed city, against 12.3% and 21.6% across the market over the same three years. 74.3% came from firms with 1,000+ lawyers.
- Partner61.1%
- Counsel19.4%
- Associate19.4%
This is a partner market: 61.1% of movers were partners, against 27.7% market-wide. A step up in title came with 19.4% of moves (market 12.9%).
The 12-month firm table is below our naming threshold, so this part reads the three years to October 2026. Lateral hires in Derivatives were spread across 68 firms. Ten firms account for 35.7% of arrivals, against 12.2% across the market: concentrated. Paul Hastings ranks first by lateral arrivals, in the 6-10 band.
- 1,000+ lawyers74.3%
- 400-999 lawyers18.8%
- 150-399 lawyers5.0%
City figures here cover the three years to October 2026. By city, New York comes first (31.6% of arrivals), then London (23.7%).
There were 93 open roles in Derivatives on law-firm career pages on November 11, 2026.
With volume in Derivatives holding level, a hire depends on a specific reason to move, which a firm has to put in front of the candidate.
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 | Paul Hastings | 6-10 |
| 2 | Hogan Lovells Cadwalader | 3-5 |
| 3 | A&O Shearman | 3-5 |
| 4 | Simmons & Simmons | 3-5 |
| 5 | Blank Rome | 3-5 |
| 6 | Sidley Austin | 3-5 |
| 7 | DLA Piper | 3-5 |
| 8 | Reed Smith | 3-5 |
| 9 | Jones Day | 3-5 |
| 10 | Haynes and Boone | 3-5 |
Time to partner in Derivatives
54 lawyers were promoted to partner in Derivatives over five years, according to Sartori & Partners data.
The median time from first year of practice to partner is 10.0 years, with the middle half between 9.0 years and 12.0 years, against a market median of 10.0 years. 76.9% made partner within 12 years.
These figures rest on 39 promotions.
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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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