Banking & Finance · speciality monitor
Private Credit & Direct Lending: lateral monitor
Lawyers whose work centers on Private Credit & Direct Lending and who changed firm over the last 12 months, set against the Banking & Finance practice and the market.
The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026
- 134
- Lateral moves, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- -4.3%
- Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
- 47.8%
- Partner share of moves
- 65
- Firms that hired
What the data show
Sartori & Partners data show 134 lateral moves in Private Credit & Direct Lending from November 2025 to October 2026. On settled 12-month windows the count showed no clear change: 134 against 140 (-4.3%). That trails the wider market, which moved +9.0%.
| Measure | Here | Banking & Finance | Market |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner share of moves | 47.8% | 30.8% | 27.7% |
| Counsel share of moves | 11.9% | 12.7% | 12.7% |
| Associate share of moves | 40.3% | 55.8% | 58.5% |
| Moved up a level | 19.4% | 13.1% | 12.9% |
| Changed city | 13.1% | 20.4% | 20.5% |
| Hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers | 73.1% | 63.8% | 53.6% |
| Year on year | flat (-4.3%) | rose (+14.1%) | 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 A dash is a value we do not publish.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 Banking & Finance practice as a whole, the widest gap is the partner share, which is higher here: 47.8% against 30.8%. Year on year it held flat while the Banking & Finance practice as a whole rose.
Over the three years to October 2026, 391 lawyers moved in Private Credit & Direct Lending, 167 of them partners (42.7%). They joined 109 different firms. 15.6% stepped up a level on the move and 16.7% changed city, against 12.3% and 21.6% across the market over the same three years. 78.5% came from firms with 1,000+ lawyers.
- Partner47.8%
- Counsel11.9%
- Associate40.3%
This is a partner market: 47.8% of movers were partners, against 27.7% market-wide. On settled windows partner moves alone went from 56 to 59 (+5.4%), a change inside the noise of the two counts, so we read it as flat. A step up in title came with 19.4% of moves (market 12.9%).
65 firms hired at least one lateral in Private Credit & Direct Lending in the window. Ten firms account for 40.3% of arrivals, against 12.9% across the market: concentrated. First on the hiring table is Proskauer Rose, with arrivals in the 11-20 band.
- 1,000+ lawyers78.5%
- 400-999 lawyers13.1%
- 150-399 lawyers5.8%
- under 150 lawyers2.6%
New York ranks first among destination cities with 28.4% of arrivals, followed by London (26.9%). A change of city came with 13.1% of moves (market 20.5%).
There were 154 open roles in Private Credit & Direct Lending on law-firm career pages on November 11, 2026.
For a firm planning a hire in Private Credit & Direct Lending, 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 | Proskauer Rose | 11-20 |
| 2 | Sidley Austin | 6-10 |
| 3 | Kirkland & Ellis | 3-5 |
| 4 | DLA Piper | 3-5 |
| 5 | Sullivan & Cromwell | 3-5 |
| 6 | Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld | 3-5 |
| 7 | Jones Day | 3-5 |
| 8 | Latham & Watkins | 3-5 |
| 9 | Mayer Brown | 3-5 |
| 10 | White & Case | 3-5 |
| Rank | Firm | Moves (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Hastings | 6-10 |
| 2 | Proskauer Rose | 6-10 |
| 3 | DLA Piper | 6-10 |
| 4 | Sidley Austin | 6-10 |
| 5 | Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld | 6-10 |
| 6 | Jones Day | 6-10 |
| 7 | Mayer Brown | 6-10 |
| 8 | Squire Patton Boggs | 3-5 |
| 9 | Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe | 3-5 |
| 10 | Vedder | 3-5 |
Deals in Private Credit & Direct Lending
Sartori & Partners data count 259 dated deals in Private Credit & Direct Lending in the 12 months to October 2026 and 698 over the three years to October 2026.
Leveraged & acquisition finance work is involved in 47.6% of them and Banking & lending in 28.5%.
By client industry, Asset Management & Funds comes first with 17.6%.
Latham & Watkins ranks first among advising firms over the period, in the 101-150 band.
| Rank | Firm | Deals (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latham & Watkins | 101-150 |
| 2 | Cahill Gordon & Reindel | 61-100 |
| 3 | Dechert | 41-60 |
| 4 | Jones Day | 21-40 |
| 5 | White & Case | 21-40 |
| 6 | Proskauer Rose | 21-40 |
| 7 | Davis Polk & Wardwell | 11-20 |
| 8 | Simpson Thacher & Bartlett | 11-20 |
| 9 | Hogan Lovells Cadwalader | 11-20 |
| 10 | Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld | 11-20 |
Time to partner in Private Credit & Direct Lending
29 lawyers were promoted to partner in Private Credit & Direct Lending in the 12 months to May 2026, 150 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. 78.9% made partner within 12 years.
These figures rest on 123 promotions.
Related monitors and reports
Other specialities in Banking & Finance
Hiring in this market
Reports
- Private Credit Lawyers Stay in Their City as Hiring Holds Flat
Private credit hiring held flat (-4.3%) on the settled year, and only 13.1% of movers changed city, against 20.4% in banking and finance and 20.5% market-wide. New York and London carry the hiring, and each hub hires from its own bench.
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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