Labor Relations Lawyer Hiring Fell 19.8% While the Market Grew

Labor relations attorney hiring moved against the rest of the lateral market. Sartori & Partners data show 134 lateral moves by lawyers whose focus is labor and union relations in the settled 12 months to September 2026, against 167 in the 12 months before: the count fell 19.8%. Over the same window the employment and labor practice rose 6.9% and the whole lateral market rose 9.0%. For a firm planning a labor relations hire, the direction matters more than the size. Fewer lawyers in this speciality changed firms in a year when employment law as a whole hired more, so a search now competes for a thinner flow of candidates than the practice figures suggest.

The gap is one of direction, not only of size. In the Sartori & Partners lateral database, labor and union relations moves fell 19.8% year on year, from 167 to 134. Employment and labor, the practice the speciality sits under, rose 6.9%, with 1,537 moves against 1,438, and the whole market rose 9.0%, from 13,128 to 14,305. The speciality is a narrow seam of that practice: labor and union relations moves recorded under employment and labor made up 9.2% of the practice's moves in 12 months. A practice can grow while one of its seams thins, and that is what the figures show here.

The yearly series puts the turn in context. Labor and union relations moves reached 175 in 2024 and 168 in 2025, after 152 in 2022 and 135 in 2023. The partial 2026 count stands at 121 through October. The previous 12-month window sits inside the two strongest years in the series, which is why the year-on-year reading is sharp. For a hiring firm, the pace of 2024 and 2025 is not the base to plan on: a search launched now meets fewer labor relations lawyers in motion than one launched a year ago.

Partner moves did not follow the total. Sartori & Partners counted 42 labor and union relations partner moves in the settled 12 months, against 50 a year earlier: partner hiring held flat (-16.0%), a gap too small at these counts to call a real change. Across employment and labor, partner hiring also held flat (+7.4%), while partner hiring in the whole market rose 8.4%. With partner moves steady and the total lower, the thinner flow is at associate and counsel level.

The level mix shows the same tilt. Partners made up 36.0% of labor and union relations moves in 12 months, against 22.4% in employment and labor and 27.7% across the market. Over three years the speciality's partner share was 28.8%, so the past year leans further toward partners than the longer record. Associates were 46.0% of the speciality's moves, against 61.6% in the practice.

Lawyers who did move often stepped up a title. In 12 months, 17.3% of labor and union relations laterals joined at a higher title than the one they left, against 13.5% in employment and labor and 12.9% across the market. On the internal route, the speciality recorded 46 partner promotions in the 12 months to May 2026, with a median of 10.0 years from first year of practice to partner. For a firm, a labor relations partner is about as available by lateral hire as a year ago. The associate and counsel bench behind that partner is the harder part to buy, and often has to be grown in house.

Over three years, New York took 10.5% of labor and union relations moves, Toronto 7.6%, Paris 6.7% and Los Angeles 6.3%. Toronto's share is 7.6 times its share of all lateral moves, which was 1.0% over the same three years. Paris holds 6.7% against 2.3% market-wide. New York, the largest city in the whole market at 14.2%, takes a smaller share here.

Los Angeles, at 6.3%, sits above its market share of 4.8% but well under the 11.1% it holds across employment and labor over three years. Labor relations lawyers also relocate more readily: 25.2% of the speciality's laterals in 12 months changed city as well as firm, against 20.5% across the market. Collective bargaining and union work follow national labor codes, so part of this candidate pool practices under Canadian or French rules. A US firm searching here should set the jurisdiction first, then widen the search across cities, since a candidate willing to relocate is easier to find in this speciality than in most.

Hiring in the speciality is concentrated. The top 10 hirers took 38.4% of labor and union relations moves in 12 months, against 30.0% in employment and labor and 12.9% across the market. Over three years the speciality's top 10 share was 29.8%, so the past 12 months are more concentrated than the longer record. Ogletree Deakins heads the 12-month list, in the 11-20 band of hires, followed by Littler Mendelson and Dentons. In all, 83 firms hired at least one labor and union relations lawyer in 12 months.

Large firms take most of the moves. Of the moves to firms of known size, firms of 1,000+ lawyers took 51.4%, against 46.9% in employment and labor. Firms of 150-399 lawyers took 18.8%, against 15.7% in the practice, and firms under 150 lawyers took 5.1%, against 11.5%. A firm outside the top 10 is competing with that group for most candidates who move, on a shrinking flow. Speed of decision and a clear account of the client work the lawyer will lead count for more than a pay premium alone.

First, plan for fewer candidates, not more. Labor and union relations moves fell 19.8% while employment and labor rose 6.9%, so the practice's growth is a poor guide to this search. Budget more time for a labor relations mandate than for a general employment one, and approach candidates directly rather than waiting for the market to bring them.

Second, a partner search is the easier half. Partner moves held flat (-16.0%), and partners made up 36.0% of the speciality's moves in 12 months. Build the associate and counsel bench through promotion and through lawyers from adjacent workplace practices. Third, decide the jurisdiction before the city: over three years Toronto took 7.6% and Paris 6.7% of the speciality's moves, far above their market shares. Fourth, expect to bid against the same firms. Law-firm career pages carried 103 open labor and union relations roles in early November 2026, and the top 10 hirers took 38.4% of 12-month moves, so a firm that hesitates over an offer will usually lose the candidate to a faster one.