Land Use and Zoning Lawyers in 2026: A Market Split Three Ways

Land use and zoning lawyers do not follow the rest of the lateral market into the largest firms. Sartori & Partners data show that over 3 years firms of 1,000+ lawyers hired 29.6% of the land use and zoning lawyers who changed firms, firms of 400-999 lawyers 29.1% and firms of 150-399 lawyers 29.3%. Across all practices, the largest class alone took 52.5%. For a firm leader planning a hire in this field, the rival bidder can be a firm of any size, and the offer has to be built with that in mind.

The field is small and steady. It counted 407 lateral moves over 3 years and 147 in the last 12 months, spread across 98 hiring firms in that year. Every search therefore draws on a narrow bench, and knowing who else is bidding matters more than in a large practice.

The middle of the market carries the difference. Firms of 150-399 lawyers hired 29.3% of land use laterals over 3 years, against 13.9% market-wide: a share 2.1 times larger. Firms of 400-999 lawyers took 29.1%, against 25.0% in the whole market. Firms under 150 lawyers hired 12.0%, against 8.6%.

The adjustment comes at the top. Firms of 1,000+ lawyers hired 29.6% of land use lawyers, 22.9 points below their share of all lateral moves. Zoning and entitlement work is local by nature: approvals turn on municipal boards, planning staff and community hearings, and a regional firm with a strong office in one metro area can serve that work as well as a global one.

For a firm of 150-399 lawyers, a land use search is one of the few lateral hires where it competes on home ground. For a firm of 1,000+ lawyers, the other bidder for a zoning partner is as likely to be a regional firm as a peer, which shifts the pitch from brand and pay toward local standing and the client base the lawyer can keep.

In the 12 months to October 2026, firms of 150-399 lawyers hired 27.9% of land use and zoning laterals, against 13.3% across all practices and 17.2% in the real estate practice as a whole. Firms of 400-999 lawyers took 26.5%, in line with real estate at 26.9%.

The largest class leads in the year at 35.4%, yet it still sits 18.2 points below its market share of 53.6% and under the real estate practice figure of 44.0%. Land use is a part of real estate with its own buyers: moves of land use and zoning lawyers recorded in the real estate practice make up 9.1% of that practice's 12-month moves, and they lean away from the largest firms that hire most heavily in the rest of the practice.

A real estate group that recruits land use lawyers through the same channels as its transactional hires will meet a different set of rivals. Expect more firms of 150-399 lawyers at the table and fewer of the largest, and set compensation against that peer group rather than against the top of the real estate market.

Counsel made up 25.9% of land use and zoning moves in the last 12 months, against 12.7% across all practices and 14.6% in real estate. That is 2.0 times the market's counsel share. Over 3 years the pattern holds, with counsel at 18.7% against 12.1% market-wide.

Partners were 29.3% of land use moves, close to the market's 27.7%, while associates were 44.9% against 58.5%. Land use careers can run through long approval files and repeat municipal work, and many experienced practitioners hold the counsel title for years. Title steps are also more common: 15.6% of land use laterals joined at a higher title than the one they left, against 12.9% market-wide.

A firm short of senior capacity in zoning should search the counsel pool first. It is deeper here, relative to the size of the field, than in real estate as a whole, and a counsel hire with a path to partnership is an offer that lands well with lawyers who have waited for a step up.

Over 3 years, New York took 8.4% of land use and zoning moves, London 6.1% and Los Angeles 5.9%. In real estate as a whole, New York took 12.7% and London 10.7%. Together the three cities hired 20.4 of land use laterals, so most of the hiring happens outside the main centers.

Movement between cities is above average too: 23.5% of land use laterals in the last 12 months also changed city, against 20.5% across all practices. For firms building a zoning bench in a growth market, that means candidates can be found beyond the local pool, though a lawyer's standing with local boards does not travel with them.

Land use and zoning hiring held flat (+8.0%) year on year, with 148 moves in the latest settled 12 months against 137 in the year before. Over the same windows the real estate practice rose 7.9%, from 1,409 to 1,520 moves, and the whole market rose 9.0%. Partner hiring in land use held flat (-14.3%), at 42 partners against 49.

Hiring is more concentrated among a few firms than in real estate overall. In the Sartori & Partners lateral database, the top 10 hirers took 26.7% of individual land use hires in 12 months, against 16.4% in real estate and 12.9% across all practices. Holland & Knight ranks first, in the 6-10 band of hires, and Saul Ewing ranks third, in the 3-5 band.

With a flat count and a few active buyers, a land use hire usually means taking a lawyer from a known competitor rather than finding one in a growing pool. Timing matters more than volume: a search that waits for the market to widen will wait in vain.

Sartori & Partners data point to four practical moves. First, map the rivals by size before making an offer: over 3 years, firms of 150-399 lawyers hired 29.3% of land use laterals, so a large firm should expect to bid against regional firms, and a regional firm can bid with confidence. Second, look at counsel: at 25.9% of 12-month moves, they are the deepest pool of senior land use talent that is open to a move.

Third, search beyond New York and London: New York, London and Los Angeles together took only part of the hiring, and lawyers in this field change city more often than the market. Fourth, plan the hire as a targeted approach to a named competitor's bench, because hiring held flat and a small group of firms takes much of it. A land use lawyer brings relationships with local boards that took years to build; the firm that secures one should plan the client handover as carefully as the offer itself.