Private capital has become one of the most competitive areas of New York’s legal talent market.
Fund Formation remains a major source of hiring activity, but the story is increasingly broader than traditional Funds work. Fund Finance, Secondaries, Private Credit and more sophisticated liquidity solutions are becoming increasingly interconnected, and law firms are investing accordingly.
Recent lateral activity provides a clear indication of that investment. Throughout 2026, firms have continued to strengthen their private funds and finance capabilities in New York, making significant partner hires and, in some cases, bringing entire teams across with them.
For associates working in the space, that investment is creating opportunity. But it is also changing the experience firms value and raising an important career question: what does a strong private capital lawyer look like in an increasingly interconnected market?
Private capital is becoming harder to define by one practice area
For years, it was relatively straightforward to think about Fund Formation, Finance and M&A as separate legal disciplines. Nowadays, however, the ongoing evolution of private capital is making these boundaries less distinct.
Fund sponsors and investors now operate across a much broader ecosystem. Alongside raising and deploying capital, they are navigating continuation vehicles, GP-led secondaries, NAV facilities, GP financing, private credit and other increasingly sophisticated liquidity and financing solutions.
The legal advice required to support that activity consequently stretches across traditional practice boundaries.
For Andrew Scholz, Principal Consultant in Sonder Consultants’ New York office, that is one of the most interesting developments in the current recruitment market.
“Funds hiring isn’t happening in isolation anymore. Clients increasingly need advice across the full private capital lifecycle, and firms are thinking much more broadly about the capabilities they need around those clients. Fund Formation remains incredibly important, but there is a much wider ecosystem developing around it.” – Andrew Scholz, Sonder Consultants
Recent lateral hiring supports this picture.
In January, Sidley Austin added three Investment Funds partners in New York, including the former co-heads of Clifford Chance’s U.S. Funds and Investment Management practice. Willkie added private funds partner Katy Kim in June, citing her experience across fund formation, secondaries, fund financing and other capital solutions.
Meanwhile, investment in specialist areas such as Fund Finance and Secondaries has been particularly notable.
The competition for Fund Finance talent
Few areas demonstrate the competition for specialist private capital talent as clearly as Fund Finance.
King & Spalding has undertaken a significant build-out during 2026. Andrew Bettwy and Jinyoung Joo joined its New York office in June, bringing experience across NAV and portfolio-level facilities, GP stake financings and other complex financing solutions. Further additions followed as the firm continued expanding its Fund Finance platform.
Sidley has been investing heavily, too; in February, the firm recruited Fund Finance partner Leah Edelboim in New York alongside a counsel and eight associates based across New York, Chicago and Charlotte.
Subsequently, in August, it added partners Brian Foster and Patrick Calves in New York alongside three counsel and six associates. Foster and Calves brought extensive experience across Fund Finance products and asset classes.
The scale of those moves is significant. Firms are not simply recruiting individual rainmakers; they are investing in the teams required to support these practices.
And when several firms want to build in the same specialist area simultaneously, competition naturally extends into the associate market.
“Fund Finance is a particularly good example of what happens when firms are investing in an area where the pool of genuinely experienced lawyers is relatively concentrated. Hiring a leading partner is one thing, but firms need the associate bench underneath them. That creates opportunities for lawyers who already have strong, relevant experience.” – Andrew Scholz, Sonder Consultants
For associates, this can create considerable leverage in the lateral market — particularly where their experience closely aligns with the type of work a firm is trying to build.
Secondaries is moving further into the mainstream
Secondaries is another increasingly important part of the private capital story. As sponsors and investors look for new ways to generate liquidity and manage increasingly complex portfolios, the Secondaries market has evolved considerably. Continuation vehicles, GP-led transactions, preferred financing and other liquidity solutions have become a much more prominent part of the landscape.
Law firms have responded: Proskauer added Josh Frankel to its Private Funds Group and Secondary Transactions and Liquidity Solutions practice in New York in May, another example of firms strengthening specialist capabilities around the evolving private capital market.
The significance for associates is not simply that another niche is hiring. Secondaries illustrates how increasingly interconnected private capital practices are becoming.
A sophisticated transaction can draw on Funds, M&A, Finance, Tax and Regulatory expertise. Lawyers who understand not only their part of that transaction but the wider commercial context can therefore bring something particularly valuable.
“There’s a real premium on strong technical experience, but breadth can make a lawyer more interesting to the market. If you’re a Funds associate who has also had meaningful exposure to Secondaries or more complex sponsor-side transactions, for example, that can differentiate your experience. It shows that you understand how different parts of the private capital market fit together.” – Andrew Scholz, Sonder Consultants
What does this mean for Funds associates?
A strong hiring market does not automatically mean it is the right time to lateral.
But it does make this a particularly useful moment for associates to look critically at the experience they are accumulating.
Being busy is not necessarily the same thing as developing.
Two associates at the same firm and in the same class year can emerge with very different profiles depending on the clients they have worked with, the matters they have been exposed to and the level of responsibility they have been given.
For junior associates, developing strong technical foundations remains essential. As lawyers progress towards the mid-level, however, the composition of that experience becomes increasingly important.
Are you working with a strong range of sponsors or investors? Are you getting meaningful responsibility on matters? Are you developing client exposure? Have you worked across different fund strategies? Are you seeing newer areas of the market alongside more traditional Fund Formation work?
Those questions can ultimately have a significant impact on lateral options.
“When I speak to associates, I encourage them to think about what their workload is actually adding to their CV rather than simply how busy they are. At the mid-level especially, firms want to understand what you can already do. The clients you’ve worked with, the transactions you’ve seen and the responsibility you’ve had can make a real difference.” – Andrew Scholz, Sonder Consultants
That does not mean associates should attempt to accumulate experience in every corner of private capital. Deep expertise remains extremely valuable.
The more useful question may be whether a lawyer’s current platform is allowing their specialism to develop alongside the market.
Should Funds lawyers specialise or broaden their experience?
As private capital becomes more interconnected, associates may increasingly find themselves weighing depth against breadth.
There is value in both.
A lawyer with deep Fund Formation experience can be highly attractive to firms looking to strengthen a traditional Funds practice. The same applies to a Fund Finance associate with specialist knowledge that is difficult to find elsewhere in the market.
But complementary experience can create additional options.
A Fund Formation lawyer might benefit from exposure to Secondaries or other sponsor-led transactions. A Finance associate working with funds might build a stronger understanding of fund structures and the commercial objectives behind the financing. Lawyers working across Private Credit may find themselves increasingly connected to both sponsor and financing work.
The objective is not necessarily to become a generalist.
Instead, associates should understand how their particular expertise fits into the wider private capital ecosystem — and whether the work they are doing now is taking their career in the direction they want.
“The strongest candidates tend to have a clear core skillset, but they can also explain how their experience fits into the broader market. Firms aren’t necessarily looking for somebody who can do everything. They want lawyers with excellent foundations whose experience complements where their practice and their clients are going.” – Andrew Scholz, Sonder Consultants
A talent market evolving with its clients
The lateral activity we have seen during 2026 suggests leading firms continue to view private capital as an important area for investment. Although, the bigger story is not simply that firms want more Funds lawyers; it is the way the private capital ecosystem itself is evolving.
Fund Formation remains at its core, but Fund Finance, Secondaries, Private Credit and related transactional practices are becoming increasingly important components of the broader offering firms are building around their clients.
This creates opportunities for associates, but it also makes career planning more nuanced.
Lawyers should understand where demand exists today, but they should also be thinking about where their practice is heading — and whether the experience they are building will position them to take advantage of that evolution.
“There are some very good opportunities in the market, but that doesn’t mean everybody needs to move. What I would encourage Funds lawyers to do is understand where their experience sits in the market. Know what firms are looking for, identify any gaps in your experience and think about what you want your practice to look like in three or five years. Once you understand that, you can make much more informed career decisions.” – Andrew Scholz, Sonder Consultants
For lawyers working across Funds and the wider Private Capital market, the current competition for talent presents an opportunity not simply to ask where could I move?, but what kind of lawyer do I want to become?
