Corporate Practice Grows 12.4% in H1 2026 — M&A, PE, and Cross-Border Drive the Fastest Lateral Market Since 2025

Sonder Consultants' H1 2026 US Legal Market Report — published July 14 — found that corporate partner moves increased 12.4% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, making corporate the fastest-growing major practice area by lateral movement. The drivers are M&A activity, continued private equity capital deployment, improving financing conditions, and demand in technology transactions and capital markets — all practice areas closely correlated with deal cycle confidence. The lateral demand pattern is economically significant because, as Sonder notes, partner lateral activity has historically been a leading indicator for broader associate and counsel hiring: when firms strengthen partner leadership in a practice area, associate demand follows as client mandates grow. The Law360 Q2 2026 lateral report confirms selectivity is increasing on the associate side — associate and counsel moves declined from Q1 levels while partner moves held relatively steady — indicating that firms are making strategic practice-group investment bets (through partner hires) while controlling associate headcount costs. For firm CFOs and practice group leaders, the H1 corporate hiring surge is a demand confirmation rather than a supply-side move: firms are not hiring to replace departures, they are building capacity ahead of deal flow they expect to capture in H2 2026.