Insolvency Litigation in 2026: Half Court, Half Restructuring

Insolvency litigation lawyers sit on the line between two practice groups, and the record shows it. Sartori & Partners data show 438 insolvency litigation matters on record over 3 years: 53.9% were restructuring and insolvency filings and 43.8% were disputes. The lateral bench leans toward restructuring, not litigation: partners made up 46.1% of the 191 insolvency litigation moves in the past 12 months, against 41.5% in restructuring and 27.4% in litigation and disputes. For a firm building this bench, the brief is courtroom skill at restructuring seniority.

The split is close to even, and that is what sets this speciality apart from its neighbor. Creditors' rights and collections, the other speciality filed under the same practice, is close to a pure restructuring business: 83.1% of its 421 matters on record were restructuring and insolvency, and disputes took 5.5%. In insolvency litigation, disputes carry 43.8%. The counts come from firm announcements and public court records, so they measure matters on record, not fees, and they do not rank one speciality against another.

The client mix points the same way. Banks and financial institutions appear on 9.1% of insolvency litigation matters, against 17.3% for creditors' rights, where lender work sits nearer the core. Consumer goods and retail clients appear on 5.9%. Litigation over a failed business pulls in trustees, buyers, landlords and suppliers as well as lenders, and the record is spread accordingly.

Brown Rudnick heads the record in the 21-40 band, with Jones Day and Sidley Austin next in the 11-20 band. The list mixes restructuring houses with firms better known for trial work. A candidate who has only run plan negotiations, or only tried commercial cases, covers one side of this docket: ask for evidence of both before the first partner meeting.

Partners were 46.1% of insolvency litigation lateral moves in the past 12 months, close to the 41.5% of restructuring and well above the 27.7% across the whole market. Litigation and disputes, the other practice this work draws on, sits at 27.4%, with associates at 57.7% of its moves against 38.7% here. This is not a one-year reading. Over 3 years, partners were 42.3% of insolvency litigation moves, 39.0% in restructuring and 27.3% in litigation.

Partner demand is wide rather than deep. Between the two newest settled 12-month windows the insolvency litigation partner count went from 69 to 89, a gap that sits inside the noise for counts this small, so read it as steady rather than as a surge; restructuring partner hiring rose 21.1% over the same windows on far larger counts. The buyers are many: 124 firms hired insolvency litigation lawyers in the past 12 months. On level mix, the senior end of this speciality looks like the restructuring market: associates are a smaller share of movers, and partners arrive priced on a portable practice.

New York took 23.6% of insolvency litigation moves in the past 12 months, an index of 160 against the city's share of all lateral moves. Restructuring indexes at 165 in the city, while litigation and disputes indexes at 88, below the market. Creditors' rights sits at 141. On city weight, insolvency litigation follows the restructuring map, not the litigation one.

The 3-year view adds a difference. London took 5.6% of insolvency litigation moves against 12.7% of restructuring moves, while Dallas took 5.4% against 3.0%. The speciality is more American than its practice. Lawyers in it changed city on 18.4% of moves, against 17.8% in restructuring, so most searches are won locally. A New York or Dallas search starts from the deepest pool; a London mandate needs a wider list and more time.

Among moves to firms of known size, firms of 1,000+ lawyers took 39.7% of insolvency litigation moves in the past 12 months, against 56.2% in restructuring, 43.3% in litigation and 53.6% across the market. Firms of 400-999 lawyers took 32.3%, against 22.6% in restructuring. A mid-size firm meets less competition from the very largest firms for these lawyers than for restructuring lawyers as a whole.

Over three years, DLA Piper and Dentons hired the most insolvency litigation lawyers, both in the 11-20 band, with Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff next in the 6-10 band. The ten most active hirers took 15.2% of the individual hires over 3 years, against 16.0% in restructuring, and 254 firms hired in the speciality over that time. The list runs from global firms to regional ones, which is where a firm of 400-999 lawyers finds both rivals and sources.

Insolvency litigation hiring held flat (+1.6%) between the two newest settled 12-month windows: 190 moves against 187. Restructuring rose 10.0% over the same windows, from 638 to 702, and litigation and disputes rose 7.5%. The market as a whole rose 9.0%. On the restructuring side, 36.1% of moves also carried litigation and disputes, so the two practices share candidates all the time.

Promotion is the other route to a partner. In the Sartori & Partners records, 49 insolvency litigation lawyers were promoted to partner in the 12 months to May 2026, after a median of 10.5 years from their first year of practice, against 11.0 years in creditors' rights. Steady lateral volume inside two practices that are hiring more means more firms chasing a pool that is not getting larger: expect longer searches and firmer counteroffers.

Recruit from restructuring benches and test for trial work. With 53.9% of matters on record in restructuring and 43.8% in disputes, the useful candidate has argued contested matters in bankruptcy court, not only run a plan process. Budget at partner level: associates were 38.7% of insolvency litigation moves against 57.7% in general litigation, so a search for senior associates draws on a thinner layer.

Start in New York, where the speciality indexes at 160, and do not limit the list to the largest firms: firms of 400-999 lawyers took 32.3% of moves to firms of known size. Sartori & Partners data show volume steady at 190 moves in the newest settled window while restructuring hiring grew, so the same candidates will see several offers. Move early, and price the hire against a restructuring partner, not a litigator.