Tax · speciality monitor
Tax Controversy: lateral monitor
Lawyers whose work centers on Tax Controversy and who changed firm over the last 12 months, set against the Tax practice and the market.
The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026
- 141
- Lateral moves, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- +20.2%
- Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
- 45.4%
- Partner share of moves
- 90
- Firms that hired
What the data show
Sartori & Partners data show 141 lateral moves in Tax Controversy from November 2025 to October 2026. On settled windows the count went from 129 to 155 (+20.2%), a change inside the noise of the two counts, so we read it as flat.
| Measure | Here | Tax | Market |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner share of moves | 45.4% | 37.9% | 27.7% |
| Counsel share of moves | 16.3% | 12.6% | 12.7% |
| Associate share of moves | 38.3% | 48.5% | 58.5% |
| Moved up a level | 18.4% | 15.5% | 12.9% |
| Changed city | 19.8% | 21.1% | 20.5% |
| Hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers | 50.4% | 49.9% | 53.6% |
| Year on year | flat (+20.2%) | rose (+23.8%) | 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 A dash is a value we do not publish.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 Tax practice as a whole, the associate share stands out most: 38.3% here against 48.5%, below it. Year on year it held flat while the Tax practice as a whole rose.
Over the three years to October 2026, 430 lawyers moved in Tax Controversy, 189 of them partners (44.0%). They joined 193 different firms. 19.1% stepped up a level on the move and 20.8% changed city, against 12.3% and 21.6% across the market over the same three years. 44.6% came from firms with 1,000+ lawyers.
- Partner45.4%
- Counsel16.3%
- Associate38.3%
This is a partner market: 45.4% of movers were partners, against 27.7% market-wide. On settled windows partner moves alone went from 58 to 66 (+13.8%), a change inside the noise of the two counts, so we read it as flat. A step up in title came with 18.4% 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. 193 firms hired at least one lateral in Tax Controversy in the window. Ten firms account for 26.5% of arrivals, against 12.2% across the market: moderately concentrated. First on the hiring table is DLA Piper, with arrivals in the 11-20 band.
- 1,000+ lawyers44.6%
- 400-999 lawyers22.1%
- 150-399 lawyers13.1%
- under 150 lawyers20.1%
City figures here cover the three years to October 2026. By city, New York comes first (8.6% of arrivals), then Washington, DC (8.1%). A change of city came with 19.8% of moves (market 20.5%).
There were 63 open roles in Tax Controversy on law-firm career pages on November 11, 2026.
For a firm planning a hire in Tax Controversy, 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 | DLA Piper | 11-20 |
| 2 | Eversheds Sutherland | 11-20 |
| 3 | Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough | 11-20 |
| 4 | Dentons | 11-20 |
| 5 | Baker McKenzie | 11-20 |
| 6 | Taft Stettinius & Hollister | 11-20 |
| 7 | McDermott Will & Schulte | 6-10 |
| 8 | Holland & Knight | 6-10 |
| 9 | Greenberg Traurig | 6-10 |
| 10 | Ashurst Perkins Coie | 6-10 |
| Rank | Firm | Moves (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough | 6-10 |
| 2 | Bradley Arant Boult Cummings | 6-10 |
| 3 | Holland & Knight | 6-10 |
| 4 | DLA Piper | 3-5 |
| 5 | Morgan, Lewis & Bockius | 3-5 |
| 6 | Taft Stettinius & Hollister | 3-5 |
| 7 | McCarthy Tétrault | 3-5 |
| 8 | Eversheds Sutherland | 3-5 |
| 9 | White & Case | 3-5 |
| 10 | Addleshaw Goddard | 3-5 |
Deals in Tax Controversy
Sartori & Partners data count 104 dated deals in Tax Controversy in the 12 months to October 2026 and 276 over the three years to October 2026.
Disputes & investigations work is involved in 94.2% of them.
Reynolds Porter Chamberlain ranks first among advising firms over the period, in the 11-20 band.
| Rank | Firm | Deals (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reynolds Porter Chamberlain | 11-20 |
| 2 | Jones Day | 6-10 |
| 3 | Fieldfisher | 6-10 |
| 4 | DWF | 6-10 |
| 5 | Slaughter and May | 6-10 |
| 6 | Davis Polk & Wardwell | 6-10 |
| 7 | Macfarlanes | 6-10 |
| 8 | Dentons | 6-10 |
| 9 | Blank Rome | 6-10 |
| 10 | Baker McKenzie | 6-10 |
Time to partner in Tax Controversy
35 lawyers were promoted to partner in Tax Controversy in the 12 months to May 2026, 202 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 8.2 years and 13.0 years, against a market median of 10.0 years. 73.2% made partner within 12 years.
These figures rest on 138 promotions.
Related monitors and reports
Up one level
Other specialities in Tax
Hiring in this market
Reports
- Tax Controversy Is a Senior Market, and Hiring Held Flat in 2026
Tax controversy is a senior market: partners took 45.4% of moves and counsel 16.3%, and 18.4% of movers joined at a higher title. Hiring held flat (+20.2%) year on year, even as the tax practice rose 23.8%.
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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