Capital Markets · speciality monitor
SPACs: lateral monitor
Lawyers whose work centers on SPACs and who changed firm over the last 12 months, set against the Capital Markets practice and the market.
The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026
- 47
- Lateral moves, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- +14.0%
- Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
- 42.6%
- Partner share of moves
- 35
- Firms that hired
What the data show
From November 2025 to October 2026, Sartori & Partners recorded 47 lateral moves in SPACs. On settled windows the count went from 43 to 49 (+14.0%), a change inside the noise of the two counts, so we read it as flat.
| Measure | Here | Capital Markets | Market |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner share of moves | 42.6% | 31.5% | 27.7% |
| Counsel share of moves | 10.6% | 11.5% | 12.7% |
| Associate share of moves | 46.8% | 56.5% | 58.5% |
| Moved up a level | 10.6% | 15.1% | 12.9% |
| Changed city | 19.5% | 23.8% | 20.5% |
| Hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers | 55.3% | 69.1% | 53.6% |
| Year on year | flat (+14.0%) | flat (+6.7%) | 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 A dash is a value we do not publish.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 Capital Markets practice as a whole, the widest gap is the share hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers, which is lower here: 55.3% against 69.1%. Year on year it moved with the Capital Markets practice as a whole: both flat.
Over the three years to October 2026, 113 lawyers moved in SPACs, 42 of them partners (37.2%). They joined 66 different firms. 18.6% stepped up a level on the move and 21.5% changed city, against 12.3% and 21.6% across the market over the same three years. 66.0% came from firms with 1,000+ lawyers.
- Partner42.6%
- Counsel10.6%
- Associate46.8%
This is a partner market: 42.6% of movers were partners, against 27.7% market-wide. 10.6% of movers stepped up a level when they changed firm, against 12.9% for the market.
- 1,000+ lawyers55.3%
- 400-999 lawyers29.8%
The 12-month firm table is below our naming threshold, so this part reads the three years to October 2026. 66 firms hired at least one lateral in SPACs in the window. The ten firms at the head of the hiring table took 33.0% of arrivals (12.2% market-wide), so hiring here is concentrated. Latham & Watkins ranks first by lateral arrivals, in the 6-10 band.
- 1,000+ lawyers66.0%
- 400-999 lawyers17.0%
- 150-399 lawyers11.3%
- under 150 lawyers5.7%
New York ranks first among destination cities with 48.9% of arrivals. 19.5% of movers also changed city, against 20.5% market-wide.
For a firm planning a hire in SPACs, 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 | Latham & Watkins | 6-10 |
| 2 | Loeb & Loeb | 3-5 |
| 3 | Baker McKenzie | 3-5 |
| 4 | Mayer Brown | 3-5 |
| 5 | Davis Polk & Wardwell | 3-5 |
| 6 | Haynes and Boone | 3-5 |
| 7 | Greenberg Traurig | 3-5 |
| 8 | Lowenstein Sandler | 3-5 |
| 9 | McGuireWoods | 3-5 |
Deals in SPACs
Sartori & Partners data count 568 dated deals in SPACs in the 12 months to October 2026 and 1,188 over the three years to October 2026.
Capital markets work is involved in 98.7% of them.
By client industry, Banks & Financial Institutions comes first with 14.1%.
Ellenoff Grossman & Schole ranks first among advising firms over the period, in the 151-250 band.
| Rank | Firm | Deals (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ellenoff Grossman & Schole | 151-250 |
| 2 | Loeb & Loeb | 151-250 |
| 3 | DLA Piper | 61-100 |
| 4 | Greenberg Traurig | 61-100 |
| 5 | Kirkland & Ellis | 61-100 |
| 6 | Davis Polk & Wardwell | 61-100 |
| 7 | White & Case | 41-60 |
| 8 | Robinson & Cole | 41-60 |
| 9 | Paul Hastings | 21-40 |
| 10 | Winston Taylor | 21-40 |
Time to partner in SPACs
67 lawyers were promoted to partner in SPACs 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 12.8 years, against a market median of 10.0 years. 74.1% made partner within 12 years.
These figures rest on 58 promotions.
Related monitors and reports
Other specialities in Capital Markets
Hiring in this market
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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