Real Estate · speciality monitor
Planning, Land Use & Zoning: lateral monitor
Lawyers whose work centers on Planning, Land Use & Zoning and who changed firm over the last 12 months, set against the Real Estate practice and the market.
The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026
- 147
- Lateral moves, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- +8.0%
- Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
- 29.3%
- Partner share of moves
- 98
- Firms that hired
What the data show
In the Sartori & Partners lateral record, 147 lawyers joined a new firm in Planning, Land Use & Zoning from November 2025 to October 2026. On settled windows the count went from 137 to 148 (+8.0%), a change inside the noise of the two counts, so we read it as flat.
| Measure | Here | Real Estate | Market |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner share of moves | 29.3% | 28.9% | 27.7% |
| Counsel share of moves | 25.9% | 14.6% | 12.7% |
| Associate share of moves | 44.9% | 56.4% | 58.5% |
| Moved up a level | 15.6% | 13.6% | 12.9% |
| Changed city | 23.5% | 20.4% | 20.5% |
| Hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers | 35.4% | 44.0% | 53.6% |
| Year on year | flat (+8.0%) | rose (+7.9%) | 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 A dash is a value we do not publish.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 Real Estate practice as a whole, the widest gap is the associate share, which is lower here: 44.9% against 56.4%. Year on year it held flat while the Real Estate practice as a whole rose.
Over the three years to October 2026, 407 lawyers moved in Planning, Land Use & Zoning, 132 of them partners (32.4%). They joined 211 different firms. 16.7% stepped up a level on the move and 24.1% changed city, against 12.3% and 21.6% across the market over the same three years. 40.2% came from firms with 1,000+ lawyers.
- Partner29.3%
- Counsel25.9%
- Associate44.9%
The level mix sits close to the market: partners are 29.3% of arrivals, against 27.7% market-wide. On settled windows partner moves alone went from 49 to 42 (-14.3%), a change inside the noise of the two counts, so we read it as flat. 15.6% of movers stepped up a level when they changed firm, against 12.9% for the market.
Lateral hires in Planning, Land Use & Zoning were spread across 98 firms. The ten firms at the head of the hiring table took 26.7% of arrivals (12.9% market-wide), so hiring here is moderately concentrated. Holland & Knight ranks first by lateral arrivals, in the 6-10 band.
- 1,000+ lawyers40.2%
- 400-999 lawyers20.7%
- 150-399 lawyers21.9%
- under 150 lawyers17.2%
City figures here cover the three years to October 2026. By city, New York comes first (8.4% of arrivals), then London (6.1%). 23.5% of movers also changed city, against 20.5% market-wide.
There were 70 open roles in Planning, Land Use & Zoning on law-firm career pages on November 11, 2026.
For a firm planning a hire in Planning, Land Use & Zoning, 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 | Holland & Knight | 6-10 |
| 2 | Dentons | 6-10 |
| 3 | Saul Ewing | 3-5 |
| 4 | Greenberg Traurig | 3-5 |
| 5 | Polsinelli | 3-5 |
| 6 | Addleshaw Goddard | 3-5 |
| 7 | Taft Stettinius & Hollister | 3-5 |
| 8 | Lowndes | 3-5 |
| 9 | Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Mitchell & Jernigan | 3-5 |
| Rank | Firm | Moves (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dentons | 6-10 |
| 2 | Clark Hill | 3-5 |
| 3 | TLT | 3-5 |
| 4 | Gunster | 3-5 |
| 5 | Taft Stettinius & Hollister | 3-5 |
| 6 | Paul Hastings | 3-5 |
| 7 | Maynard Nexsen | 3-5 |
Deals in Planning, Land Use & Zoning
Sartori & Partners data count 84 dated deals in Planning, Land Use & Zoning in the 12 months to October 2026 and 251 over the three years to October 2026.
Real estate work is involved in 82.1% of them and Disputes & investigations in 10.8%.
By client industry, Real Estate comes first with 62.9%.
Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod ranks first among advising firms over the period, in the 21-40 band.
| Rank | Firm | Deals (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod | 21-40 |
| 2 | Greenspoon Marder | 11-20 |
| 3 | Holland & Knight | 11-20 |
| 4 | Akerman | 6-10 |
| 5 | Ballard Spahr | 3-5 |
| 6 | Harris Beach Murtha | 3-5 |
| 7 | Walker Morris | 3-5 |
| 8 | Fox Rothschild | 3-5 |
| 9 | Day Pitney | 3-5 |
| 10 | Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton | 3-5 |
Time to partner in Planning, Land Use & Zoning
44 lawyers were promoted to partner in Planning, Land Use & Zoning in the 12 months to May 2026, 217 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 8.0 years and 12.0 years, against a market median of 10.0 years. 75.9% made partner within 12 years.
These figures rest on 174 promotions.
Related monitors and reports
Other specialities in Real Estate
Hiring in this market
Reports
- Land Use and Zoning Lawyers in 2026: A Market Split Three Ways
Over 3 years, firms of 1,000+ lawyers, 400-999 lawyers and 150-399 lawyers each hired close to a third of land use and zoning laterals (29.6%, 29.1%, 29.3%), while the largest firms took 52.5% market-wide. Hiring held flat, and counsel are an unusually large share of it.
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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