Kirkland & Ellis Revenue Surges to $8.8 Billion as Profits Soar

Kirkland & Ellis hit new revenue and profits records last year as the world’s largest law firm continued to gain scale on rivals.

The firm brought in $8.8 billion in gross revenue, while profits per equity partner rose to $9.25 million, according to a source familiar with the situation.
The numbers—a 22% revenue gain and 16% increase in profits per partner—were first reported by The American Lawyer.

Kirkland’s revenue growth outpaced the industry average of 13%, as reported by Wells Fargo’s law firm banking unit earlier this year. Law firms recorded strong performances last year on broad demand growth across practices.

Kirkland last year ranked as the top dealmaking firm by value, advising on $427 billion worth of deals, according to Bloomberg data. The firm advised on some of the largest deals of the year, including representing snack food maker Kellanova in its $36 billion sale to Mars Inc.

The firm’s lawyer headcount rose about 9% to more than 3,800 lawyers. It continued to increase its equity partner ranks, defying an industry trend of stalled growth in that category. Kirkland’s equity partner roster grew to 573 lawyers, up more than 6% from the prior year.

The firm popularized the nonequity partner tier, which some of the most profitable New York-based firms have adopted more recently. It employs more than 1,110 “nonshare” partners, as the firm refers to them, up nearly 14% from a year ago, Am Law reported.

Driven by its preeminent private equity practice, Kirkland’s scale increasingly dwarfs its law firm competitors. The firm last year added nearly $1.6 billion in revenue. That was about as much total revenue generated by the 30th largest law firm in 2023, according to Am Law data.

The world’s second-largest firm by revenue, Latham & Watkins, increased revenue by 23% last year to $7 billion. The revenue gap between Kirkland and Latham still grew last year, from about $1.5 billion in 2023 to $1.8 billion last year.