Family · speciality monitor
Divorce & Financial Remedies: lateral monitor
Lawyers whose work centers on Divorce & Financial Remedies and who changed firm over the last 12 months, set against the Family practice and the market.
The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026
- 54
- Lateral moves, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- +23.4%
- Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
- 38.9%
- Partner share of moves
- 26
- Firms that hired
What the data show
Sartori & Partners data show 54 lateral moves in Divorce & Financial Remedies from November 2025 to October 2026. On settled windows the count went from 47 to 58 (+23.4%), a change inside the noise of the two counts, so we read it as flat.
| Measure | Here | Family | Market |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner share of moves | 38.9% | 43.2% | 27.7% |
| Counsel share of moves | 13.0% | 10.2% | 12.7% |
| Associate share of moves | 48.1% | 46.6% | 58.5% |
| Moved up a level | 18.5% | 20.5% | 12.9% |
| Changed city | 27.6% | 27.1% | 20.5% |
| Hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers (three years) | 5.6% | 8.3% | 52.5% |
| Year on year | flat (+23.4%) | flat (+22.4%) | 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 A dash is a value we do not publish.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.
Set against the Family practice as a whole, the partner share stands out most: 38.9% here against 43.2%, below it. Year on year it moved with the Family practice as a whole: both flat.
Over the three years to October 2026, 149 lawyers moved in Divorce & Financial Remedies, 54 of them partners (36.2%). They joined 59 different firms. 12.8% stepped up a level on the move and 31.3% changed city, against 12.3% and 21.6% across the market over the same three years. 10.4% came from firms with 1,000+ lawyers.
- Partner38.9%
- Counsel13.0%
- Associate48.1%
At 38.9%, the partner share of arrivals sits above the market's 27.7%. 18.5% of movers stepped up a level when they changed firm, against 12.9% for the market.
- 400-999 lawyers50.0%
- 150-399 lawyers22.2%
- under 150 lawyers22.2%
26 firms hired at least one lateral in Divorce & Financial Remedies in the window. Ten firms account for 64.8% of arrivals, against 12.9% across the market: concentrated. First on the hiring table is Knights, with arrivals in the 6-10 band.
- 1,000+ lawyers10.4%
- 400-999 lawyers35.4%
- 150-399 lawyers12.5%
- under 150 lawyers41.7%
City figures here cover the three years to October 2026. London ranks first among destination cities with 18.8% of arrivals. A change of city came with 27.6% of moves (market 20.5%).
For a firm planning a hire in Divorce & Financial Remedies, 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 | Knights | 6-10 |
| 2 | Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel | 6-10 |
| 3 | Mills & Reeve | 3-5 |
| 4 | Birketts | 3-5 |
| 5 | Lowndes | 3-5 |
| 6 | Irwin Mitchell | 3-5 |
| 7 | Penningtons Manches Cooper | 3-5 |
| Rank | Firm | Moves (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Knights | 6-10 |
| 2 | Keystone Law | 6-10 |
| 3 | Birketts | 3-5 |
| 4 | Mills & Reeve | 3-5 |
Deals in Divorce & Financial Remedies
Sartori & Partners data count 21 over the three years to October 2026.
Time to partner in Divorce & Financial Remedies
85 lawyers were promoted to partner in Divorce & Financial Remedies over five years, according to Sartori & Partners data.
The median time from first year of practice to partner is 12.0 years, with the middle half between 9.5 years and 16.0 years, against a market median of 10.0 years. 51.3% made partner within 12 years.
These figures rest on 39 promotions.
Related monitors and reports
Up one level
Other specialities in Family
Hiring in this market
Reports
- Divorce and Financial Remedies Lawyers: A Short List of Hiring Firms
Divorce and financial remedies hiring held flat (+23.4%), and it sits with a short list of firms: firms of 400-999 lawyers took 50.0% of moves, against 37.8% in family law.
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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