Employment & Labor · speciality monitor
Employment Advisory: lateral monitor
Lawyers whose work centers on Employment Advisory and who changed firm over the last 12 months, set against the Employment & Labor practice and the market.
The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026
- 624
- Lateral moves, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- -0.6%
- Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
- 24.2%
- Partner share of moves
- 195
- Firms that hired
What the data show
From November 2025 to October 2026, Sartori & Partners recorded 624 lateral moves in Employment Advisory. Year on year the count held level (650 to 646 on settled windows, -0.6%). It fell behind the market's own change of +9.0%.
| Measure | Here | Employment & Labor | Market |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner share of moves | 24.2% | 22.4% | 27.7% |
| Counsel share of moves | 15.9% | 15.2% | 12.7% |
| Associate share of moves | 59.9% | 61.6% | 58.5% |
| Moved up a level | 13.9% | 13.5% | 12.9% |
| Changed city | 21.5% | 20.6% | 20.5% |
| Hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers | 52.1% | 46.9% | 53.6% |
| Year on year | flat (-0.6%) | rose (+6.9%) | 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 A dash is a value we do not publish.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 Employment & Labor practice as a whole, the share hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers stands out most: 52.1% here against 46.9%, above it. Year on year it held flat while the Employment & Labor practice as a whole rose.
Over the three years to October 2026, 1,975 lawyers moved in Employment Advisory, 449 of them partners (22.7%). They joined 414 different firms. 11.8% stepped up a level on the move and 22.2% changed city, against 12.3% and 21.6% across the market over the same three years. 50.2% came from firms with 1,000+ lawyers.
Latest: 30 in Oct 26
Show the numbers
| Month | Value |
|---|---|
| Nov 24 | 33 |
| Dec 24 | 40 |
| Jan 25 | 75 |
| Feb 25 | 58 |
| Mar 25 | 69 |
| Apr 25 | 56 |
| May 25 | 54 |
| Jun 25 | 46 |
| Jul 25 | 40 |
| Aug 25 | 45 |
| Sep 25 | 72 |
| Oct 25 | 52 |
| Nov 25 | 52 |
| Dec 25 | 32 |
| Jan 26 | 78 |
| Feb 26 | 32 |
| Mar 26 | 54 |
| Apr 26 | 75 |
| May 26 | 44 |
| Jun 26 | 62 |
| Jul 26 | 56 |
| Aug 26 | 52 |
| Sep 26 | 57 |
| Oct 26 | 30 |
The newest months read low: start dates are confirmed with a delay.
Partners account for 24.2% of movers, near the market's 27.7%. On settled windows partner moves alone went from 149 to 147 (-1.3%), which we read as flat. A step up in title came with 13.9% of moves (market 12.9%).
- Partner24.2%
- Counsel15.9%
- Associate59.9%
Lateral hires in Employment Advisory were spread across 195 firms. The ten firms at the head of the hiring table took 38.8% of arrivals (12.9% market-wide), so hiring here is concentrated. Jackson Lewis ranks first by lateral arrivals, in the 41-60 band.
Los Angeles ranks first among destination cities with 11.5% of arrivals, followed by New York (10.6%). 21.5% of movers also changed city, against 20.5% market-wide.
- 1,000+ lawyers50.2%
- 400-999 lawyers21.2%
- 150-399 lawyers14.1%
- under 150 lawyers14.5%
Group moves were 0.8% of the total (market 1.5%).
There were 422 open roles in Employment Advisory on law-firm career pages on November 11, 2026.
For a firm planning a hire in Employment Advisory, 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 | Jackson Lewis | 41-60 |
| 2 | Fisher & Phillips | 21-40 |
| 3 | Ogletree Deakins | 21-40 |
| 4 | Littler Mendelson | 21-40 |
| 5 | Greenberg Traurig | 11-20 |
| 6 | Dentons | 11-20 |
| 7 | Seyfarth Shaw | 11-20 |
| 8 | Buchalter | 11-20 |
| 9 | Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton | 6-10 |
| 10 | Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani | 6-10 |
| Rank | Firm | Moves (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ogletree Deakins | 6-10 |
| 2 | Dentons | 6-10 |
| 3 | Fisher & Phillips | 6-10 |
| 4 | Littler Mendelson | 6-10 |
| 5 | Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani | 6-10 |
| 6 | Greenberg Traurig | 3-5 |
| 7 | Jackson Lewis | 3-5 |
| 8 | Buchalter | 3-5 |
| 9 | Weightmans | 3-5 |
| 10 | Wiggin & Dana | 3-5 |
Deals in Employment Advisory
Sartori & Partners data count 46 over the three years to October 2026.
Liebert Cassidy Whitmore ranks first among advising firms over the period, in the 6-10 band.
| Rank | Firm | Deals (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liebert Cassidy Whitmore | 6-10 |
| 2 | Heuking | 6-10 |
| 3 | Fasken Martineau DuMoulin | 3-5 |
Time to partner in Employment Advisory
164 lawyers were promoted to partner in Employment Advisory in the 12 months to May 2026, 818 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 13.0 years, against a market median of 10.0 years. 68.2% made partner within 12 years.
These figures rest on 636 promotions.
Related monitors and reports
Other specialities in Employment & Labor
Hiring in this market
Reports
- How Long to Make Partner in Employment Advisory: 11.0 years
Employment advisory is the slow road to partner: a median of 11.0 years from first year of practice, against 10.0 years market-wide, and only 17.9% promoted within eight years.
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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