Corporate & M&A · speciality monitor
Joint Ventures: lateral monitor
Lawyers whose work centers on Joint Ventures and who changed firm over the last 12 months, set against the Corporate & M&A practice and the market.
The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026
- 346
- Lateral moves, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- +0.6%
- Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
- 54.9%
- Partner share of moves
- 153
- Firms that hired
What the data show
From November 2025 to October 2026, Sartori & Partners recorded 346 lateral moves in Joint Ventures. On settled 12-month windows the count showed no clear change: 362 against 360 (+0.6%). That trails the wider market, which moved +9.0%.
| Measure | Here | Corporate & M&A | Market |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner share of moves | 54.9% | 29.9% | 27.7% |
| Counsel share of moves | 16.2% | 11.3% | 12.7% |
| Associate share of moves | 28.9% | 57.7% | 58.5% |
| Moved up a level | 15.0% | 12.4% | 12.9% |
| Changed city | 15.9% | 21.2% | 20.5% |
| Hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers | 65.6% | 62.6% | 53.6% |
| Year on year | flat (+0.6%) | rose (+15.8%) | 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 A dash is a value we do not publish.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 Corporate & M&A practice as a whole, the associate share stands out most: 28.9% here against 57.7%, below it. Year on year it held flat while the Corporate & M&A practice as a whole rose.
Over the three years to October 2026, 1,010 lawyers moved in Joint Ventures, 515 of them partners (51.0%). They joined 264 different firms. 15.5% stepped up a level on the move and 19.8% changed city, against 12.3% and 21.6% across the market over the same three years. 68.4% came from firms with 1,000+ lawyers.
Latest: 21 in Oct 26
Show the numbers
| Month | Value |
|---|---|
| Nov 24 | 21 |
| Jan 25 | 45 |
| Feb 25 | 38 |
| Mar 25 | 25 |
| Apr 25 | 29 |
| May 25 | 39 |
| Jun 25 | 27 |
| Jul 25 | 33 |
| Aug 25 | 29 |
| Sep 25 | 29 |
| Oct 25 | 37 |
| Nov 25 | 25 |
| Jan 26 | 38 |
| Feb 26 | 25 |
| Mar 26 | 20 |
| Apr 26 | 32 |
| May 26 | 36 |
| Jun 26 | 38 |
| Jul 26 | 32 |
| Aug 26 | 29 |
| Sep 26 | 37 |
| Oct 26 | 21 |
The newest months read low: start dates are confirmed with a delay.
Partners make up 54.9% of arrivals, against 27.7% across the market: a partner-heavy flow. Year on year, on windows that end a month early, partner moves alone grew 19.2% (167 to 199). A step up in title came with 15.0% of moves (market 12.9%).
- Partner54.9%
- Counsel16.2%
- Associate28.9%
Lateral hires in Joint Ventures were spread across 153 firms. Ten firms account for 22.7% of arrivals, against 12.9% across the market: moderately concentrated. First on the hiring table is DLA Piper, with arrivals in the 11-20 band.
By city, New York comes first (16.8% of arrivals), then London (13.6%). 15.9% of movers also changed city, against 20.5% market-wide.
- 1,000+ lawyers68.4%
- 400-999 lawyers16.0%
- 150-399 lawyers7.4%
- under 150 lawyers8.2%
There were 107 open roles in Joint Ventures on law-firm career pages on November 11, 2026.
For a firm planning a hire in Joint Ventures, 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 | DLA Piper | 11-20 |
| 2 | Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher | 11-20 |
| 3 | Dentons | 6-10 |
| 4 | Norton Rose Fulbright | 6-10 |
| 5 | Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld | 6-10 |
| 6 | Latham & Watkins | 6-10 |
| 7 | Greenberg Traurig | 6-10 |
| 8 | CMS | 6-10 |
| 9 | Paul Hastings | 6-10 |
| 10 | Holland & Knight | 6-10 |
| Rank | Firm | Moves (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dentons | 6-10 |
| 2 | White & Case | 3-5 |
| 3 | Holland & Knight | 3-5 |
| 4 | Latham & Watkins | 3-5 |
| 5 | Greenberg Traurig | 3-5 |
| 6 | Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld | 3-5 |
| 7 | Paul Hastings | 3-5 |
| 8 | Osborne Clarke | 3-5 |
| 9 | DLA Piper | 3-5 |
| 10 | CMS | 3-5 |
Deals in Joint Ventures
Sartori & Partners data count 169 dated deals in Joint Ventures in the 12 months to October 2026 and 501 over the three years to October 2026.
M&A work is involved in 64.1% of them and Real estate in 7.2%.
By client industry, Power & Renewables comes first with 11.6%.
CMS ranks first among advising firms over the period, in the 21-40 band.
| Rank | Firm | Deals (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CMS | 21-40 |
| 2 | Latham & Watkins | 21-40 |
| 3 | DLA Piper | 21-40 |
| 4 | Freshfields | 21-40 |
| 5 | Clifford Chance | 11-20 |
| 6 | White & Case | 11-20 |
| 7 | Kirkland & Ellis | 11-20 |
| 8 | Dentons | 11-20 |
| 9 | Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer | 11-20 |
| 10 | Nishimura & Asahi | 11-20 |
Time to partner in Joint Ventures
129 lawyers were promoted to partner in Joint Ventures in the 12 months to May 2026, 586 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. 79.8% made partner within 12 years.
These figures rest on 420 promotions.
Related monitors and reports
Other specialities in Corporate & M&A
Hiring in this market
Reports
- Joint venture lawyers in 2026: energy work, partner hires
Joint venture work follows energy: power and renewables is its first client industry and Houston hires at an index of 272 against the market. The bench is bought at partner level, 54.9% of laterals against 29.9% in corporate and M&A.
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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