Private Client & Estates · speciality monitor
Trusts & Estate Administration: lateral monitor
Lawyers whose work centers on Trusts & Estate Administration and who changed firm over the last 12 months, set against the Private Client & Estates practice and the market.
The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026
- 177
- Lateral moves, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- +12.8%
- Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
- 37.3%
- Partner share of moves
- 111
- Firms that hired
What the data show
Sartori & Partners data show 177 lateral moves in Trusts & Estate Administration from November 2025 to October 2026. On settled windows the count went from 164 to 185 (+12.8%), a change inside the noise of the two counts, so we read it as flat.
| Measure | Here | Private Client & Estates | Market |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner share of moves | 37.3% | 32.6% | 27.7% |
| Counsel share of moves | 14.7% | 12.7% | 12.7% |
| Associate share of moves | 48.0% | 54.7% | 58.5% |
| Moved up a level | 18.1% | 16.0% | 12.9% |
| Changed city | 20.5% | 25.6% | 20.5% |
| Hired by firms of 1,000+ lawyers | 16.1% | 18.9% | 53.6% |
| Year on year | flat (+12.8%) | flat (+9.1%) | 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 A dash is a value we do not publish.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 Private Client & Estates practice as a whole, the associate share stands out most: 48.0% here against 54.7%, below it. Year on year it moved with the Private Client & Estates practice as a whole: both flat.
Over the three years to October 2026, 516 lawyers moved in Trusts & Estate Administration, 164 of them partners (31.8%). They joined 222 different firms. 17.1% stepped up a level on the move and 24.6% changed city, against 12.3% and 21.6% across the market over the same three years. 27.6% came from firms with 1,000+ lawyers.
- Partner37.3%
- Counsel14.7%
- Associate48.0%
This is a partner market: 37.3% of movers were partners, against 27.7% market-wide. On settled windows partner moves alone went from 47 to 68, up 44.7% year on year. 18.1% of movers stepped up a level when they changed firm, against 12.9% for the market.
Lateral hires in Trusts & Estate Administration were spread across 111 firms. Ten firms account for 25.1% of arrivals, against 12.9% across the market: moderately concentrated. Taft Stettinius & Hollister ranks first by lateral arrivals, in the 6-10 band.
- 1,000+ lawyers27.6%
- 400-999 lawyers22.8%
- 150-399 lawyers28.9%
- under 150 lawyers20.7%
City figures here cover the three years to October 2026. By city, New York comes first (13.4% of arrivals), then Chicago (6.6%). 20.5% of movers also changed city, against 20.5% market-wide.
There were 59 open roles in Trusts & Estate Administration on law-firm career pages on November 11, 2026.
For a firm planning a hire in Trusts & Estate Administration, 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 | Taft Stettinius & Hollister | 6-10 |
| 2 | Shipman & Goodwin | 6-10 |
| 3 | FBT Gibbons | 3-5 |
| 4 | Gunster | 3-5 |
| 5 | Buchalter | 3-5 |
| 6 | Dorsey & Whitney | 3-5 |
| 7 | Birketts | 3-5 |
| 8 | Snell & Wilmer | 3-5 |
| 9 | Fox Rothschild | 3-5 |
| 10 | Holland & Knight | 3-5 |
| Rank | Firm | Moves (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Offit Kurman | 6-10 |
| 2 | Knights | 6-10 |
| 3 | FBT Gibbons | 3-5 |
| 4 | Birketts | 3-5 |
| 5 | Buchalter | 3-5 |
| 6 | FisherBroyles | 3-5 |
| 7 | Stevens & Lee | 3-5 |
| 8 | McCarter & English | 3-5 |
| 9 | Loeb & Loeb | 3-5 |
| 10 | Holland & Knight | 3-5 |
Deals in Trusts & Estate Administration
Sartori & Partners data count 35 dated deals in Trusts & Estate Administration in the 12 months to October 2026 and 100 over the three years to October 2026.
Disputes & investigations work is involved in 89.0% of them.
By client industry, Private Wealth & Family Offices comes first with 36.0%.
Withers Worldwide ranks first among advising firms over the period, in the 6-10 band.
| Rank | Firm | Deals (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Withers Worldwide | 6-10 |
| 2 | Warner Norcross + Judd | 6-10 |
| 3 | Taylor Wessing | 3-5 |
| 4 | Loeb & Loeb | 3-5 |
| 5 | JMW Solicitors | 3-5 |
| 6 | Charles Russell Speechlys | 3-5 |
Time to partner in Trusts & Estate Administration
43 lawyers were promoted to partner in Trusts & Estate Administration in the 12 months to May 2026, 192 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. 65.8% made partner within 12 years.
These figures rest on 146 promotions.
Related monitors and reports
Other specialities in Private Client & Estates
Hiring in this market
Reports
- Trusts and Estate Administration 2026: A Small-Firm Talent Pool
Trusts and estate administration recruits from small firms: firms under 150 lawyers were the previous firm for 20.7% of movers over 3 years, 1.8 times the market's 11.4%. The hiring side leans smaller too, with firms of 150-399 lawyers taking 30.5% of joiners against 13.3% market-wide.
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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