Environment & Sustainability · speciality monitor
Environmental Compliance & Permitting: lateral monitor
Lawyers whose work centers on Environmental Compliance & Permitting and who changed firm over the last 12 months, set against the Environment & Sustainability practice and the market.
The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026
- 88
- Lateral moves, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- -15.0%
- Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
- 36.4%
- Partner share of moves
- 66
- Firms that hired
What the data show
Sartori & Partners data show 88 lateral moves in Environmental Compliance & Permitting from November 2025 to October 2026. On settled windows the count went from 107 to 91 (-15.0%), a change inside the noise of the two counts, so we read it as flat.
| Measure | Here | Environment & Sustainability | Market |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner share of moves | 36.4% | 32.9% | 27.7% |
| Counsel share of moves | 27.3% | 19.5% | 12.7% |
| Associate share of moves | 36.4% | 46.4% | 58.5% |
| Moved up a level | 13.6% | 16.8% | 12.9% |
| Changed city | 17.9% | 20.2% | 20.5% |
| Hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers | 38.6% | 44.0% | 53.6% |
| Year on year | flat (-15.0%) | flat (+7.1%) | 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 A dash is a value we do not publish.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 Environment & Sustainability practice as a whole, the widest gap is the associate share, which is lower here: 36.4% against 46.4%. Year on year it moved with the Environment & Sustainability practice as a whole: both flat.
Over the three years to October 2026, 317 lawyers moved in Environmental Compliance & Permitting, 121 of them partners (38.2%). They joined 162 different firms. 15.8% stepped up a level on the move and 22.5% changed city, against 12.3% and 21.6% across the market over the same three years. 43.4% came from firms with 1,000+ lawyers.
- Partner36.4%
- Counsel27.3%
- Associate36.4%
At 36.4%, the partner share of arrivals sits above the market's 27.7%. Measured on settled 12-month windows, 29 partner moves against 50 the year before, partner moves alone fell 42.0%. 13.6% of movers stepped up a level when they changed firm, against 12.9% for the market.
The 12-month firm table is below our naming threshold, so this part reads the three years to October 2026. 162 firms hired at least one lateral in Environmental Compliance & Permitting in the window. The ten firms at the head of the hiring table took 23.6% of arrivals (12.2% market-wide), so hiring here is moderately concentrated. First on the hiring table is Stoel Rives, with arrivals in the 11-20 band.
- 1,000+ lawyers43.4%
- 400-999 lawyers25.0%
- 150-399 lawyers19.3%
- under 150 lawyers12.3%
City figures here cover the three years to October 2026. By city, Washington, DC comes first (7.9% of arrivals), then San Francisco (7.6%). A change of city came with 17.9% of moves (market 20.5%).
There were 48 open roles in Environmental Compliance & Permitting on law-firm career pages on November 11, 2026.
With volume in Environmental Compliance & Permitting 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 | Stoel Rives | 11-20 |
| 2 | Holland & Knight | 6-10 |
| 3 | Greenberg Traurig | 6-10 |
| 4 | Paul Hastings | 6-10 |
| 5 | Dorsey & Whitney | 6-10 |
| 6 | Norton Rose Fulbright | 6-10 |
| 7 | Hogan Lovells Cadwalader | 3-5 |
| 8 | Holland & Hart | 3-5 |
| 9 | White & Case | 3-5 |
| 10 | McCarthy Tétrault | 3-5 |
| Rank | Firm | Moves (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stoel Rives | 6-10 |
| 2 | Holland & Hart | 3-5 |
| 3 | Holland & Knight | 3-5 |
| 4 | White & Case | 3-5 |
| 5 | McCarthy Tétrault | 3-5 |
Deals in Environmental Compliance & Permitting
Sartori & Partners data count 52 over the three years to October 2026.
Disputes & investigations work is involved in 51.9% of them.
Time to partner in Environmental Compliance & Permitting
26 lawyers were promoted to partner in Environmental Compliance & Permitting in the 12 months to May 2026, 153 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 13.5 years, against a market median of 10.0 years. 66.1% made partner within 12 years.
These figures rest on 115 promotions.
Related monitors and reports
Other specialities in Environment & Sustainability
Hiring in this market
Reports
- Environmental Compliance and Permitting: A Counsel-Heavy Market
Counsel took 27.3% of environmental compliance and permitting moves, against 19.5% in the environment practice and 12.7% across the market. Partner hiring fell 42.0%. Hiring at all levels held flat (-15.0%).
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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