Commercial Contracts · speciality monitor
Distribution & Agency: lateral monitor
Lawyers whose work centers on Distribution & Agency and who changed firm over the last 12 months, set against the Commercial Contracts practice and the market.
The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026
- 46
- Lateral moves, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- +81.5%
- Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
- 43.5%
- Partner share of moves
- 33
- Firms that hired
What the data show
From November 2025 to October 2026, Sartori & Partners recorded 46 lateral moves in Distribution & Agency. Measured on settled 12-month windows, 49 moves against 27 the year before, the count rose 81.5%. The market as a whole moved +9.0%, so this flow outpaced it.
| Measure | Here | Commercial Contracts | Market |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner share of moves | 43.5% | 32.2% | 27.7% |
| Counsel share of moves | 21.7% | 14.4% | 12.7% |
| Associate share of moves | 34.8% | 53.4% | 58.5% |
| Moved up a level | 28.3% | 18.6% | 12.9% |
| Changed city | 25.7% | 25.0% | 20.5% |
| Hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers | 54.3% | 45.3% | 53.6% |
| Year on year | rose (+81.5%) | flat (+15.7%) | 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 A dash is a value we do not publish.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 Commercial Contracts practice as a whole, the widest gap is the associate share, which is lower here: 34.8% against 53.4%. Year on year it rose while the Commercial Contracts practice as a whole held flat.
Over the three years to October 2026, 121 lawyers moved in Distribution & Agency, 49 of them partners (40.5%). They joined 71 different firms. 15.7% stepped up a level on the move and 20.9% changed city, against 12.3% and 21.6% across the market over the same three years. 51.7% came from firms with 1,000+ lawyers.
- Partner43.5%
- Counsel21.7%
- Associate34.8%
Partners make up 43.5% of arrivals, against 27.7% across the market: a partner-heavy flow. 28.3% of movers stepped up a level when they changed firm, against 12.9% for the market.
- 1,000+ lawyers54.3%
- 400-999 lawyers21.7%
- under 150 lawyers15.2%
The 12-month firm table is below our naming threshold, so this part reads the three years to October 2026. Lateral hires in Distribution & Agency were spread across 71 firms. The ten firms at the head of the hiring table took 38.7% of arrivals (12.2% market-wide), so hiring here is concentrated. First on the hiring table is CMS, with arrivals in the 6-10 band.
- 1,000+ lawyers51.7%
- 400-999 lawyers21.8%
- 150-399 lawyers13.8%
- under 150 lawyers12.6%
A change of city came with 25.7% of moves (market 20.5%).
There were 82 open roles in Distribution & Agency on law-firm career pages on November 11, 2026.
For a firm hiring in Distribution & Agency, the pool is moving and partners are part of it: expect competing offers and budget time for a contested process.
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 | CMS | 6-10 |
| 2 | Osborne Clarke | 6-10 |
| 3 | DLA Piper | 6-10 |
| 4 | Fieldfisher | 3-5 |
| 5 | Greenberg Traurig | 3-5 |
| 6 | Addleshaw Goddard | 3-5 |
| 7 | Hill Dickinson | 3-5 |
| 8 | Bird & Bird | 3-5 |
| 9 | Morrison & Foerster | 3-5 |
Deals in Distribution & Agency
Sartori & Partners data count 24 over the three years to October 2026.
Time to partner in Distribution & Agency
85 lawyers were promoted to partner in Distribution & Agency 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 8.0 years and 12.0 years, against a market median of 10.0 years. 80.0% made partner within 12 years.
These figures rest on 45 promotions.
Related monitors and reports
Other specialities in Commercial Contracts
Hiring in this market
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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