Tax · speciality monitor

Indirect Tax & VAT: lateral monitor

Lawyers whose work centers on Indirect Tax & VAT and who changed firm over the last 12 months, set against the Tax practice and the market.

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01 The numbers

The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026

30
Lateral moves, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
+18.8%
Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
36.7%
Partner share of moves
21
Firms that hired
02 Reading the data

What the data show

In the Sartori & Partners lateral record, 30 lawyers joined a new firm in Indirect Tax & VAT from November 2025 to October 2026. On settled windows the count went from 32 to 38 (+18.8%), a change inside the noise of the two counts, so we read it as flat.

Indirect Tax & VAT against Tax and the market
MeasureHereTaxMarket
Partner share of moves36.7%37.9%27.7%
Counsel share of moves16.7%12.6%12.7%
Associate share of moves46.7%48.5%58.5%
Moved up a level (three years)16.5%15.7%12.3%
Changed city (three years)21.0%22.6%21.6%
Hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers63.3%49.9%53.6%
Year on yearflat (+18.8%)rose (+23.8%)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 A dash is a value we do not publish.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 Tax practice as a whole, the share hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers stands out most: 63.3% here against 49.9%, above it. Year on year it held flat while the Tax practice as a whole rose.

Indirect Tax & VAT: lateral moves by year

2026 runs to October.

Over the three years to October 2026, 97 lawyers moved in Indirect Tax & VAT, 32 of them partners (33.0%). They joined 66 different firms. 16.5% stepped up a level on the move and 21.0% changed city, against 12.3% and 21.6% across the market over the same three years. 48.5% came from firms with 1,000+ lawyers.

At 36.7%, the partner share of arrivals sits above the market's 27.7%.

The 12-month firm table is below our naming threshold, so this part reads the three years to October 2026. 66 firms hired at least one lateral in Indirect Tax & VAT in the window. Ten firms account for 37.9% of arrivals, against 12.2% across the market: concentrated. Eversheds Sutherland ranks first by lateral arrivals, in the 6-10 band.

There were 27 open roles in Indirect Tax & VAT on law-firm career pages on November 11, 2026.

With volume in Indirect Tax & VAT holding level, a hire depends on a specific reason to move, which a firm has to put in front of the candidate.

03 Firms

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.

Firms ranked by lateral arrivals, three years to October 2026
RankFirmMoves (band)
1Eversheds Sutherland6-10
2CMS6-10
3Taft Stettinius & Hollister3-5
4Corrs Chambers Westgarth3-5
5Holland & Knight3-5
6Dentons3-5
04 Demand

Deals in Indirect Tax & VAT

Sartori & Partners data count 40 over the three years to October 2026.

Disputes & investigations work is involved in 85.0% of them.

05 Promotions

Time to partner in Indirect Tax & VAT

57 lawyers were promoted to partner in Indirect Tax & VAT 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 8.5 years and 14.0 years, against a market median of 10.0 years. 64.1% made partner within 12 years.

These figures rest on 39 promotions.

Years from first year of practice to partner

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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