Banking & Finance · speciality monitor
Structured Finance & Securitization: lateral monitor
Lawyers whose work centers on Structured Finance & Securitization 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
- 197
- Lateral moves, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- -0.4%
- Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
- 41.1%
- Partner share of moves
- 79
- Firms that hired
What the data show
From November 2025 to October 2026, Sartori & Partners recorded 197 lateral moves in Structured Finance & Securitization. On settled 12-month windows the count showed no clear change: 224 against 225 (-0.4%). It fell behind the market's own change of +9.0%.
| Measure | Here | Banking & Finance | Market |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner share of moves | 41.1% | 30.8% | 27.7% |
| Counsel share of moves | 11.7% | 12.7% | 12.7% |
| Associate share of moves | 47.2% | 55.8% | 58.5% |
| Moved up a level | 16.2% | 13.1% | 12.9% |
| Changed city | 15.4% | 20.4% | 20.5% |
| Hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers | 79.7% | 63.8% | 53.6% |
| Year on year | flat (-0.4%) | 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 A dash is a value we do not publish.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.
Set against the Banking & Finance practice as a whole, the share hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers stands out most: 79.7% here against 63.8%, above it. Year on year it held flat while the Banking & Finance practice as a whole rose.
Over the three years to October 2026, 608 lawyers moved in Structured Finance & Securitization, 223 of them partners (36.7%). They joined 129 different firms. 14.5% stepped up a level on the move and 17.4% changed city, against 12.3% and 21.6% across the market over the same three years. 76.1% came from firms with 1,000+ lawyers.
Latest: 31 in Jul 26
Show the numbers
| Month | Value |
|---|---|
| Nov 24 | 21 |
| Jan 25 | 22 |
| Feb 25 | 20 |
| Apr 25 | 22 |
| May 25 | 20 |
| Jun 25 | 23 |
| Sep 25 | 25 |
| Oct 25 | 37 |
| Nov 25 | 20 |
| Jan 26 | 22 |
| Feb 26 | 22 |
| Jul 26 | 31 |
The newest months read low: start dates are confirmed with a delay.
At 41.1%, the partner share of arrivals sits above the market's 27.7%. Year on year partner moves alone held level (83 to 83 on settled windows, 0.0%). 16.2% of movers stepped up a level when they changed firm, against 12.9% for the market.
- Partner41.1%
- Counsel11.7%
- Associate47.2%
Lateral hires in Structured Finance & Securitization were spread across 79 firms. Ten firms account for 39.2% of arrivals, against 12.9% across the market: concentrated. First on the hiring table is Sidley Austin, with arrivals in the 11-20 band.
By city, New York comes first (31.5% of arrivals), then London (23.9%). 15.4% of movers also changed city, against 20.5% market-wide.
- 1,000+ lawyers76.1%
- 400-999 lawyers13.8%
- 150-399 lawyers5.7%
- under 150 lawyers4.4%
There were 239 open roles in Structured Finance & Securitization on law-firm career pages on November 11, 2026.
For a firm planning a hire in Structured Finance & Securitization, 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 | Sidley Austin | 11-20 |
| 2 | Kirkland & Ellis | 6-10 |
| 3 | Alston & Bird | 6-10 |
| 4 | Latham & Watkins | 6-10 |
| 5 | Dechert | 6-10 |
| 6 | Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe | 6-10 |
| 7 | Paul Hastings | 6-10 |
| 8 | Holland & Knight | 6-10 |
| 9 | Hogan Lovells Cadwalader | 6-10 |
| 10 | Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff | 3-5 |
| Rank | Firm | Moves (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sidley Austin | 6-10 |
| 2 | Kirkland & Ellis | 6-10 |
| 3 | Paul Hastings | 6-10 |
| 4 | Dechert | 6-10 |
| 5 | Eversheds Sutherland | 6-10 |
| 6 | Mayer Brown | 6-10 |
| 7 | Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe | 6-10 |
| 8 | Dentons | 6-10 |
| 9 | DLA Piper | 3-5 |
| 10 | King & Spalding | 3-5 |
Deals in Structured Finance & Securitization
Sartori & Partners data count 67 dated deals in Structured Finance & Securitization in the 12 months to October 2026 and 207 over the three years to October 2026.
Banking & lending work is involved in 59.9% of them.
By client industry, Banks & Financial Institutions comes first with 33.8%.
Jones Day ranks first among advising firms over the period, in the 21-40 band.
| Rank | Firm | Deals (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jones Day | 21-40 |
| 2 | DLA Piper | 11-20 |
| 3 | Latham & Watkins | 11-20 |
| 4 | Davis Polk & Wardwell | 11-20 |
| 5 | Hogan Lovells Cadwalader | 11-20 |
| 6 | Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer | 6-10 |
| 7 | White & Case | 6-10 |
| 8 | Paul Hastings | 6-10 |
| 9 | Clifford Chance | 6-10 |
| 10 | A&O Shearman | 6-10 |
Time to partner in Structured Finance & Securitization
49 lawyers were promoted to partner in Structured Finance & Securitization in the 12 months to May 2026, 231 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. 73.3% made partner within 12 years.
These figures rest on 191 promotions.
Related monitors and reports
Other specialities in Banking & Finance
Hiring in this market
Reports
- Structured Finance Hires with the Cycle: The 2026 Lateral Market
Structured finance hiring swings harder than the practice around it: lateral moves fell sharply in 2023 and peaked in 2025. On the settled 12-month measure the speciality held flat (-0.4%), while banking and finance rose 14.1%.
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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