Private Credit Lawyers Stay in Their City as Hiring Holds Flat

Private credit lawyer hiring is a local business. Sartori & Partners data show that 134 lawyers whose focus is private credit and direct lending joined a new firm in the 12 months to October 2026, and only 13.1% of them changed city to do it. In banking and finance as a whole the figure was 20.4%, and across the lateral market 20.5%. The hiring that does happen sits in two places: New York, at an index of 192 against the market's city mix, and London, at 291. A firm building a private credit bench should plan to find it in the city where the seat already is.

The private credit share of city changers sits 7.3 points below banking and finance and 7.4 points below the market. Fund finance, the closest neighbor inside the same practice, comes in at 18.0%, so the pattern is specific to private credit rather than to finance work in general. It also holds over a longer run. Over 3 years, 16.7% of private credit movers changed city, against 21.0% in banking and finance and 21.6% in the market. The latest 12 months read lower still for the specialty.

The work explains much of it. A direct lending lawyer is tied to a set of credit funds, sponsors and arrangers who mostly sit in the same financial center, and those relationships do not travel well across an ocean or a time zone. A candidate asked to relocate is being asked to rebuild that network from scratch. For the hiring firm, a relocation offer starts at a disadvantage, and a search that relies on one will take longer and cost more. Draw the long list from the city where the seat sits.

In the Sartori & Partners lateral database, New York took 28.4% of private credit moves over the 12 months and London 26.9%. Against the market's city mix, London's index of 291 is the sharper outlier: banking and finance as a whole indexes at 177 there, and fund finance at 282. New York, at 192, sits above the practice's 145 and below fund finance's 210.

Over 3 years a third city appears, with Los Angeles taking 5.6% of moves, far behind New York at 27.4% and London at 25.1%. With so few movers changing city, each hub largely hires from its own market. Treat New York and London as two separate searches with two separate candidate pools, not one transatlantic pool, and expect thin cover anywhere else.

Private credit hiring is senior. Partners accounted for 47.8% of moves in the specialty, against 30.8% in banking and finance, 35.3% in fund finance and 27.7% across the market. Associates took 40.3%, against 55.8% in the practice. Over 3 years the partner share was 42.7%, so the tilt toward partners is not new.

Movers also step up more often. 19.4% of private credit laterals joined at a higher title than the one they left, against 13.1% in banking and finance and 12.9% in the market. Settled partner arrivals went from 56 to 59, and the partner count held flat (+5.4%). For a firm, a title is part of the offer: senior associates and counsel expect a partner seat to justify a move, and partners already hold one where they sit.

Over the settled 12 months to September 2026, private credit hiring held flat (-4.3%), with 134 moves against 140 a year earlier. Banking and finance hiring rose 14.1% over the same windows, fund finance hiring rose 34.1%, and the market rose 9.0%. Calendar years show the specialty at 139 moves in 2025 and 115 in 2026 through October.

The hirers are concentrated. Of moves where the hiring firm's size is known, 73.1% went to firms of 1,000+ lawyers, against 63.8% in banking and finance and 53.6% in the market. The ten firms that hired most took 40.3% of individual hires, against 19.9% in the practice. A steady market with few buyers means each hire is contested by the same names, and a firm outside that group needs a clear reason for a candidate to look.

Over 3 years, Sartori & Partners recorded 698 dated deals carrying private credit work. Leveraged & acquisition finance appeared on 47.6% of them and Banking & lending on 28.5%. By client industry, Asset Management & Funds came first at 17.6%, followed by Financial Sponsors at 10.5%. The record points to acquisition lending for funds and sponsors. A candidate's value lies in that deal flow and in the lenders who send it, which is one more reason the bench stays where those lenders are.

First, search locally. With only 13.1% of movers changing city, a New York seat is filled from New York and a London seat from London. A relocation package will widen the pool only at the margin, and it adds months to the search.

Second, budget for partners. At 47.8% partners, the market prices private credit expertise at the senior end, and associates who move often expect a step up in title. Firms that want associates should look to adjacent finance teams in the same city, where the partner share is 30.8% and the associate pool is deeper.

Third, expect competition from the largest firms. Demand is steady rather than growing, and it is held by a short list of hirers. A firm entering the space wins candidates on the deal flow it can show, above all in leveraged and acquisition finance, and on a seat in the city where the candidate already works.