Environment & Sustainability · speciality monitor
Environmental Litigation: lateral monitor
Lawyers whose work centers on Environmental Litigation 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
- 118
- Lateral moves, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- -2.4%
- Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
- 37.3%
- Partner share of moves
- 90
- Firms that hired
What the data show
In the Sartori & Partners lateral record, 118 lawyers joined a new firm in Environmental Litigation from November 2025 to October 2026. On settled windows the count went from 126 to 123 (-2.4%), which we read as flat. That trails the wider market, which moved +9.0%.
| Measure | Here | Environment & Sustainability | Market |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner share of moves | 37.3% | 32.9% | 27.7% |
| Counsel share of moves | 24.6% | 19.5% | 12.7% |
| Associate share of moves | 38.1% | 46.4% | 58.5% |
| Moved up a level | 15.3% | 16.8% | 12.9% |
| Changed city | 18.4% | 20.2% | 20.5% |
| Hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers | 33.9% | 44.0% | 53.6% |
| Year on year | flat (-2.4%) | 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 A dash is a value we do not publish.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 share hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers, which is lower here: 33.9% against 44.0%. Year on year it moved with the Environment & Sustainability practice as a whole: both flat.
Over the three years to October 2026, 411 lawyers moved in Environmental Litigation, 157 of them partners (38.2%). They joined 200 different firms. 15.3% stepped up a level on the move and 19.6% changed city, against 12.3% and 21.6% across the market over the same three years. 42.3% came from firms with 1,000+ lawyers.
- Partner37.3%
- Counsel24.6%
- Associate38.1%
This is a partner market: 37.3% of movers were partners, against 27.7% market-wide. On settled windows partner moves alone went from 50 to 43 (-14.0%), a change inside the noise of the two counts, so we read it as flat. 15.3% 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. 200 firms hired at least one lateral in Environmental Litigation in the window. Ten firms account for 20.0% of arrivals, against 12.2% across the market: moderately concentrated. First on the hiring table is Stoel Rives, with arrivals in the 6-10 band.
- 1,000+ lawyers42.3%
- 400-999 lawyers20.8%
- 150-399 lawyers16.9%
- under 150 lawyers20.1%
City figures here cover the three years to October 2026. By city, New York comes first (9.0% of arrivals), then Washington, DC (7.8%). A change of city came with 18.4% of moves (market 20.5%).
There were 65 open roles in Environmental Litigation on law-firm career pages on November 11, 2026.
For a firm planning a hire in Environmental Litigation, 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 | Stoel Rives | 6-10 |
| 2 | Norton Rose Fulbright | 6-10 |
| 3 | Greenberg Traurig | 6-10 |
| 4 | Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani | 6-10 |
| 5 | Spencer Fane | 6-10 |
| 6 | Holland & Knight | 6-10 |
| 7 | Goldberg Segalla | 6-10 |
| 8 | DLA Piper | 6-10 |
| 9 | McCarter & English | 6-10 |
| 10 | Paul Hastings | 6-10 |
| Rank | Firm | Moves (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stoel Rives | 6-10 |
| 2 | Spencer Fane | 3-5 |
| 3 | McCarter & English | 3-5 |
| 4 | Holland & Knight | 3-5 |
| 5 | Holland & Hart | 3-5 |
| 6 | Jones Walker | 3-5 |
| 7 | Paul Hastings | 3-5 |
| 8 | Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith | 3-5 |
Deals in Environmental Litigation
Sartori & Partners data count 45 dated deals in Environmental Litigation in the 12 months to October 2026 and 130 over the three years to October 2026.
Disputes & investigations work is involved in 80.0% of them.
Baker Botts ranks first among advising firms over the period, in the 6-10 band.
| Rank | Firm | Deals (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baker Botts | 6-10 |
| 2 | Covington & Burling | 6-10 |
| 3 | Hunton Andrews Kurth | 6-10 |
| 4 | Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro | 6-10 |
| 5 | Squire Patton Boggs | 3-5 |
| 6 | Sidley Austin | 3-5 |
| 7 | McGuireWoods | 3-5 |
| 8 | Troutman Pepper Locke | 3-5 |
| 9 | Leigh Day | 3-5 |
| 10 | Hogan Lovells Cadwalader | 3-5 |
Time to partner in Environmental Litigation
38 lawyers were promoted to partner in Environmental Litigation in the 12 months to May 2026, 202 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. 78.2% made partner within 12 years.
These figures rest on 170 promotions.
Related monitors and reports
Other specialities in Environment & Sustainability
Hiring in this market
Reports
- Environmental Litigators: A Bench Trained in Small Firms
Over three years, 20.1% of environmental litigators who changed firms left firms under 150 lawyers, against 12.0% in the environment practice and 11.4% market-wide. Firms of 1,000+ lawyers took only 33.9% of 12-month hires, and hiring held flat (-2.4%).
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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