White Collar, Investigations & Criminal · speciality monitor
Securities Enforcement: lateral monitor
Lawyers whose work centers on Securities Enforcement and who changed firm over the last 12 months, set against the White Collar, Investigations & Criminal practice and the market.
The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026
- 110
- Lateral moves, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- +30.6%
- Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
- 57.3%
- Partner share of moves
- 70
- Firms that hired
What the data show
In the Sartori & Partners lateral record, 110 lawyers joined a new firm in Securities Enforcement from November 2025 to October 2026. Year on year, on windows that end a month early, the count grew 30.6% (85 to 111). That runs ahead of the wider market, which moved +9.0%.
| Measure | Here | White Collar, Investigations & Criminal | Market |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner share of moves | 57.3% | 41.6% | 27.7% |
| Counsel share of moves | 6.4% | 12.6% | 12.7% |
| Associate share of moves | 35.5% | 45.2% | 58.5% |
| Moved up a level | 10.0% | 13.4% | 12.9% |
| Changed city | 10.7% | 15.6% | 20.5% |
| Hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers | 57.3% | 55.5% | 53.6% |
| Year on year | rose (+30.6%) | flat (+8.2%) | 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 A dash is a value we do not publish.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.
Set against the White Collar, Investigations & Criminal practice as a whole, the partner share stands out most: 57.3% here against 41.6%, above it. Year on year it rose while the White Collar, Investigations & Criminal practice as a whole held flat.
Over the three years to October 2026, 311 lawyers moved in Securities Enforcement, 159 of them partners (51.1%). They joined 136 different firms. 11.9% stepped up a level on the move and 13.0% changed city, against 12.3% and 21.6% across the market over the same three years. 66.5% came from firms with 1,000+ lawyers.
- Partner57.3%
- Counsel6.4%
- Associate35.5%
At 57.3%, the partner share of arrivals sits above the market's 27.7%. On settled windows partner moves alone went from 48 to 61 (+27.1%), a change inside the noise of the two counts, so we read it as flat. A step up in title came with 10.0% of moves (market 12.9%).
The 12-month firm table is below our naming threshold, so this part reads the three years to October 2026. 136 firms hired at least one lateral in Securities Enforcement in the window. The ten firms at the head of the hiring table took 21.8% of arrivals (12.2% market-wide), so hiring here is moderately concentrated. Steptoe ranks first by lateral arrivals, in the 6-10 band.
- 1,000+ lawyers66.5%
- 400-999 lawyers16.3%
- 150-399 lawyers6.5%
- under 150 lawyers10.6%
New York ranks first among destination cities with 28.2% of arrivals, followed by Washington, DC (19.1%). A change of city came with 10.7% of moves (market 20.5%).
Group moves were 5.5% of the total (market 1.5%).
For a firm hiring in Securities Enforcement, the pool is moving and partners are part of it: expect competing offers and budget time for a contested process.
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 | Steptoe | 6-10 |
| 2 | Davis Wright Tremaine | 6-10 |
| 3 | McGuireWoods | 6-10 |
| 4 | Paul Hastings | 6-10 |
| 5 | Greenberg Traurig | 6-10 |
| 6 | Norton Rose Fulbright | 6-10 |
| 7 | White & Case | 6-10 |
| 8 | WilmerHale | 6-10 |
| 9 | Hogan Lovells Cadwalader | 6-10 |
| 10 | Barnes & Thornburg | 6-10 |
Deals in Securities Enforcement
Sartori & Partners data count 39 over the three years to October 2026.
Disputes & investigations work is involved in 100.0% of them.
Time to partner in Securities Enforcement
30 lawyers were promoted to partner in Securities Enforcement in the 12 months to May 2026, 195 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 13.0 years, against a market median of 10.0 years. 73.0% made partner within 12 years.
These figures rest on 178 promotions.
Related monitors and reports
Other specialities in White Collar, Investigations & Criminal
Hiring in this market
Reports
- Securities Enforcement: Few Make Partner Within 8 Years
Securities enforcement lawyers wait for the title: only 9.0% of recent new partners got there within 8 years, against 23.2% market-wide. Firms fill the gap from outside: partners are 57.3% of lateral moves, and hiring rose 30.6%.
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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