Employment & Labor · speciality monitor
Restrictive Covenants & Non-Competes: lateral monitor
Lawyers whose work centers on Restrictive Covenants & Non-Competes and who changed firm over the last 12 months, set against the Employment & Labor practice and the market.
The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026
- 227
- Lateral moves, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- +5.3%
- Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
- 42.7%
- Partner share of moves
- 111
- Firms that hired
What the data show
In the Sartori & Partners lateral record, 227 lawyers joined a new firm in Restrictive Covenants & Non-Competes from November 2025 to October 2026. On settled windows the count went from 228 to 240 (+5.3%), a change inside the noise of the two counts, so we read it as flat.
| Measure | Here | Employment & Labor | Market |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner share of moves | 42.7% | 22.4% | 27.7% |
| Counsel share of moves | 15.9% | 15.2% | 12.7% |
| Associate share of moves | 41.4% | 61.6% | 58.5% |
| Moved up a level | 16.3% | 13.5% | 12.9% |
| Changed city | 20.1% | 20.6% | 20.5% |
| Hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers | 47.1% | 46.9% | 53.6% |
| Year on year | flat (+5.3%) | rose (+6.9%) | 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 A dash is a value we do not publish.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 Employment & Labor practice as a whole, the widest gap is the partner share, which is higher here: 42.7% against 22.4%. Year on year it held flat while the Employment & Labor practice as a whole rose.
Over the three years to October 2026, 734 lawyers moved in Restrictive Covenants & Non-Competes, 273 of them partners (37.2%). They joined 261 different firms. 14.3% stepped up a level on the move and 17.0% changed city, against 12.3% and 21.6% across the market over the same three years. 49.7% came from firms with 1,000+ lawyers.
- Partner42.7%
- Counsel15.9%
- Associate41.4%
At 42.7%, the partner share of arrivals sits above the market's 27.7%. On settled windows partner moves alone went from 75 to 95 (+26.7%), a change inside the noise of the two counts, so we read it as flat. A step up in title came with 16.3% of moves (market 12.9%).
Lateral hires in Restrictive Covenants & Non-Competes were spread across 111 firms. The ten firms at the head of the hiring table took 33.9% of arrivals (12.9% market-wide), so hiring here is concentrated. Ogletree Deakins ranks first by lateral arrivals, in the 11-20 band.
- 1,000+ lawyers49.7%
- 400-999 lawyers22.1%
- 150-399 lawyers13.5%
- under 150 lawyers14.7%
By city, New York comes first (12.3% of arrivals), then Chicago (8.8%). 20.1% of movers also changed city, against 20.5% market-wide.
Group moves were 2.6% of the total (market 1.5%).
There were 166 open roles in Restrictive Covenants & Non-Competes on law-firm career pages on November 11, 2026.
For a firm planning a hire in Restrictive Covenants & Non-Competes, 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 | Ogletree Deakins | 11-20 |
| 2 | Jackson Lewis | 11-20 |
| 3 | Greenberg Traurig | 11-20 |
| 4 | Fisher & Phillips | 6-10 |
| 5 | Buchalter | 6-10 |
| 6 | Littler Mendelson | 3-5 |
| 7 | Taft Stettinius & Hollister | 3-5 |
| 8 | Davis Wright Tremaine | 3-5 |
| 9 | Reed Smith | 3-5 |
| 10 | Dentons | 3-5 |
| Rank | Firm | Moves (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fisher & Phillips | 11-20 |
| 2 | Jackson Lewis | 6-10 |
| 3 | Ogletree Deakins | 6-10 |
| 4 | Buchalter | 6-10 |
| 5 | Greenberg Traurig | 6-10 |
| 6 | Taft Stettinius & Hollister | 6-10 |
| 7 | Seyfarth Shaw | 3-5 |
| 8 | Kirkland & Ellis | 3-5 |
| 9 | Epstein Becker & Green | 3-5 |
| 10 | Mayer Brown | 3-5 |
Deals in Restrictive Covenants & Non-Competes
Sartori & Partners data count 25 over the three years to October 2026.
Disputes & investigations work is involved in 100.0% of them.
Time to partner in Restrictive Covenants & Non-Competes
65 lawyers were promoted to partner in Restrictive Covenants & Non-Competes in the 12 months to May 2026, 388 over five years, according to Sartori & Partners data.
The median time from first year of practice to partner is 11.0 years, with the middle half between 9.0 years and 14.0 years, against a market median of 10.0 years. 66.7% made partner within 12 years.
These figures rest on 342 promotions.
Related monitors and reports
Other specialities in Employment & Labor
Hiring in this market
Reports
- Non-Compete Lawyer Hiring in 2026: Why Chicago Over-Indexes
Restrictive covenant hiring is a Chicago market and a partner market: Chicago over-indexes at 208, New York sits at 83, and partners take 42.7% of hires against 22.4% in employment law.
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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