Corporate Report May 2026
Q2 2025 through Q2 2026 · 2,763 Tracked Moves
By the Numbers
The corporate lateral market recorded 2,763 attorney moves across the tracked period—spanning Q2 2025 through the early weeks of Q2 2026. The data reflects a market defined by consistent demand, concentrated at the associate level, and driven almost entirely by corporate M&A practitioners.
Firms Moving Together
A group move is defined here as two or more attorneys landing at the same firm on the same date. The data shows 369 such events across the period, ranging from pairs to cohorts of two dozen. These moves are rarely coordinated departures from one firm—they reflect firms making multiple individual hires in a single month, often drawing from different source firms.
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett — March 2026: The largest single-month intake in the dataset. 24 attorneys joined from firms including Dechert, Paul Hastings, Ropes & Gray, Davis Polk, Vinson & Elkins, and White & Case.
Kirkland & Ellis — June 2025: 21 attorneys joined in one month, arriving from a range of firms including Skadden, Proskauer, Vinson & Elkins, and Latham & Watkins.
Kirkland & Ellis — March 2026: 20 attorneys arrived from Goodwin Procter, Proskauer, Sidley Austin, Skadden, and several regional firms.
DLA Piper — March 2026: 12 attorneys joined from a broad mix of Am Law firms.
Who Got a New Title
Of the 2,763 moves tracked, 1,312 attorneys (47.5%) changed titles when they moved. The most common shifts were upward. A meaningful number also involved attorneys transitioning to in-house titles, which often reflect a different compensation structure and career trajectory rather than a true change in seniority.
Most Common Title Transitions
Green = promotion · Gold = in-house role shift · Red = title reduction (often reflects firm titling conventions, not a step down in seniority)
In-House & Government
634 attorneys left private practice entirely during the tracked period. The vast majority moved in-house. Private equity firms and major financial institutions dominated the destination list, drawing transactional talent who wanted to stay close to deal work without the demands of law firm life.
Top In-House Destinations
When Attorneys Move
Attorneys from the 2022 class led all movement, followed closely by 2023 and 2021. Attorneys in their third through fifth years of practice are consistently the most active movers—they have enough deal experience to be competitive candidates but haven't yet reached partnership consideration timelines at their current firms.
Classes 2020–2023 collectively account for 1,568 moves—56.8% of all tracked lateral activity. If your candidate falls in this window, they are moving at the height of market demand. This is the most competitive hiring pool and the most active candidate base simultaneously.
What People Practice—and What They Pick Up
Top Specialties at Arrival Firms
New Specialties Picked Up After Move
The growth in Compliance/Regulatory as a newly acquired specialty is notable. Attorneys who moved from pure M&A backgrounds to in-house roles or compliance-forward firms picked up this specialty at a higher rate than any other. Energy and Life Sciences as specialty additions are consistent with increased deal flow in those sectors.
Where People Moved From and To
Top Departure Cities
Top Arrival Cities
When the Market Moved
The lateral market showed its strongest output in Q1 2026 and Q3 2025, each recording roughly 765–770 moves. Q4 2025 was also strong at 657. Q2 2025 and Q2 2026 are partial periods.
Counsel: 11
Associates: 353
Other: 14
Counsel: 30
Associates: 680
Other: 43
Counsel: 18
Associates: 591
Other: 33
Counsel: 22
Associates: 697
Other: 34
Counsel: 7
Associates: 167
Other: 8
Q1 is historically the busiest quarter in the lateral market—year-end bonuses vest and attorneys act on decisions made in the fall. The 2026 Q1 figure of 770 confirms this pattern. The Q3 2025 volume of 765 is unusually close to Q1's peak, suggesting the market stayed active well past the typical summer slowdown.
Who Hired Most
Who Hired Most
Simpson Thacher and Kirkland led all hiring activity by a wide margin, each absorbing more than 130 attorneys during the period. The next tier—Latham & Watkins, Paul Weiss, Greenberg Traurig, Willkie Farr, and DLA Piper—each brought in 44 to 61 attorneys, reflecting broad-based demand across multiple platforms rather than hiring concentrated at one or two firms.
Corporate Open Positions
There are 350 active corporate associate openings in the current market. Demand is concentrated in the 3–5 year experience range, aligning directly with the class years driving the most lateral movement. The firms and cities with the most open corporate roles largely mirror where hiring activity has been strongest throughout the tracked period.
Top Firms Hiring Corporate Associates
Top Cities for Corporate Openings
Corporate Specialties in Active Demand
M&A and private equity continue to drive the bulk of open corporate roles, consistent with where lateral movement has been concentrated. Technology Transactions stands out as a growing area of active demand—firms are seeking candidates who can manage licensing and commercial deals alongside traditional transactional work. New York accounts for nearly 15% of all open corporate positions on its own, and the California markets combined (LA, San Francisco, Silicon Valley) represent another significant share, making coastal presence a meaningful factor for corporate candidates evaluating where opportunity is most concentrated right now.
What the Movement Tells Us
The corporate lateral market is in an active, competitive cycle. 2,763 tracked moves over roughly four full quarters reflects a pace that shows no signs of slowing. Demand is concentrated where it has been for years—M&A and private equity associates in their third through fifth years of practice—but the breadth of firms making hires has expanded meaningfully. Greenberg Traurig, DLA Piper, and Benesch are now competing for the same candidate pools that Kirkland and Simpson Thacher dominated a few years ago. That widening is good for candidates and creates more complexity for firms trying to plan their hiring pipelines.
The Q1 peak pattern is reliable: January through March is when the most movement happens, driven by year-end bonus vesting and decisions made in the fall. Firms that want to compete in Q1 need to be building their pipelines in Q3 and Q4—not scrambling to open searches in January. The Q3 2025 volume suggests the summer slowdown was notably compressed, which may indicate that firms with Q1 needs accelerated their timelines rather than waiting for the new year.
The in-house market absorbed 634 people—23% of all tracked movement. Private equity firms and major financial institutions are drawing strong associate-to-counsel level talent directly from law firms. That pull is likely to intensify, which means law firms competing for mid-level corporate associates are simultaneously competing against in-house opportunities.
The 452 practice area changes and the surge in Compliance/Regulatory as a newly adopted specialty both point to a market where candidates are increasingly willing to add new work to their existing profiles. Energy and Life Sciences as specialty additions are consistent with increased deal flow in those sectors. Candidates with M&A foundations who are willing to develop depth in Energy or Life Sciences are well-positioned in regional markets where sector-specific deal work is growing faster than the national average.
Looking ahead, the trajectory of the lateral market will follow deal volume. The sustained activity through Q3 and Q4 2025, and the strong Q1 2026 figure, reflect the deal environment beginning to recover from the slowdown of 2023 and early 2024. If that recovery holds, the back half of 2026 should remain active for corporate lateral candidates.