Kirkland & Ellis LLP, founded in 1909, is the world's second-highest grossing law firm, with $2.65 billion in annual revenues. Kirkland is widely considered to be one of the world's most elite law firms, and its private equity, restructuring, and intellectual property groups are largely regarded as industry leaders.
Kirkland & Ellis is also known for a globally recognized litigation practice, aimed mainly at large corporate clients that go to trial. Kirkland has offices in Beijing, Boston, Chicago, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Munich, New York, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Shanghai and Washington, D.C.
Kirkland is the fifth most profitable law firm per partner, with estimated profits per equity partner of $4.1 million. Kirkland is also known for paying associates above-market salaries, through performance based bonuses that exceed those offered by peer firms. The starting salary for first-year associates is $180,000.
Kirkland was ranked #2 in the AmLaw 100 rankings in 2017, a ranking based on financial metrics, and #2 in the 2017 ATL Power 100 Law Firm Rankings. Vault's 2018 rankings, based on ratings of associates at peer firms, placed Kirkland as the #1 most prestigious firm in Chicago, and the #8 most prestigious firm in the U.S.
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Firm history
In 1909, two young attorneys, Stuart G. Shepard and Robert R. McCormick, teamed up to form the Chicago-based partnership that would eventually become Kirkland & Ellis. McCormick was the grandson of Joseph Medill, the founder of the Chicago Tribune. McCormick was an "innovative and forceful lawyer" who had also served with distinction in World War I. By 1920, McCormick had become so active in the business affairs of the Chicago Tribune that he left the Firm to take over as the Tribune's publisher.
As a consequence of McCormick's outspoken, crusading editorial policy the Tribune soon required the services of a first-class trial lawyer to defend against a slew of defamation cases. McCormick turned to Weymouth Kirkland, who had joined the firm in 1915. Over the course of his career, Kirkland attracted some of the firm's largest clients. Often described as a brilliant trial lawyer, he served as chief counsel to the Tribune and other newspapers in various cases that became landmarks in free speech and libel law.
Kirkland's partner, Howard Ellis, was a pivotal contributor to the firm's early history. Ellis joined the firm as a young associate in 1915. Ellis assisted Kirkland in many of his most famous trials, in which they defended clients such as Standard Oil Company, the Associated Press, the Chicago Board of Trade, among others. The duo made legal history in a landmark libel suit brought by Henry Ford in 1919, during which Ellis pioneered the defense of "fair comment," which is today a basic right of free speech.
In 1938, Kirkland and Ellis hired young trial lawyer Hammond E. Chaffetz from the U.S. Department of Justice. Chaffetz is noted for ushering in "the modern era of the firm". As skilled lawyer and leader, Chaffetz employed a personal touch in his recruiting efforts, often taking outstanding law students to dinners and walks to bring them into the firm. In his six decades at the firm, Chaffetz's techniques were noted for helping the firm grow to about 780 lawyers, making it one of the top 30 largest in the country.
Although Kirkland & Ellis began as a firm focused on freedom of the press and antitrust litigation, the firm has grown into an international, full-service law firm with approximately 1,900 attorneys and 12 offices around the world.
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Notable clients and cases
- Represented BP in relation to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, notably scored a summary judgment ruling in favor of BP that it had no duty to report the Deepwater Horizon oil spill under the U.S. Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act
- Represented Volkswagen in relation to the Volkswagen emissions scandal
- Represented General Motors in relation to the General Motors ignition switch scandal
- Defended Nike, Inc. against trademark infringement claims regarding the Jumpman logo, protecting $2 billion in annual business for the company
- Scored a $93.8 million jury award for pharmaceutical giant AbbVie Inc. in a royalty dispute with MedImmune
- Represented MedTronic in a billion-dollar patent suit win against Atlas IP, LLC
- Scored a $73.6 million trade secrets misappropriation jury award against Caterpillar Inc. in favor of supplier Miller UK Ltd., believed to be the largest verdict of its kind in Illinois
- Represented Heinz co-owner 3G Capital in a $55 billion merger with Kraft Foods to create The Kraft-Heinz Company, the third largest food and beverage provider in the U.S.
- Represented The Macerich Co. in its successful defense against a $23.2 billion unsolicited offer from Simon Property Group
- Represented Baxalta in connection with British biotechnology giant Shire's $30 billion unsolicited takeover bid
- Represented Molson Coors Brewing in its $12 billion deal to purchase SABMiller's stake in their MillerCoors joint venture as part of AB InBev's takeover of its No. 2 rival
- Represented Piedmont Natural Gas in a $4.9 billion sale to Duke Energy
- Represented Teva Pharmaceuticals Ltd. in its $40.5 billion acquisition of Allergan Generics, after last year representing Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management and Valeant Pharmaceuticals on their failed $55 billion hostile bid for Allergan Generics' then-parent Allergan Inc.
- Regularly represents Bain Capital in various controlling interest private equity transactions.
Notable attorneys and alumni
- Jay Lefkowitz - Former Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea and Director of Cabinet Affairs under President George W. Bush
- Neil Eggleston - Former White House Counsel under President Barack Obama
- Viet D. Dinh - Former Assistant Attorney General of the United States, chief architect of the U.S. Patriot Act, founder of Bancroft PLLC, and director of News Corporation
- Paul Clement - Former Solicitor General of the United States
- Robert S. Khuzami - Former director of the Department of Enforcement of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and former general counsel of Deutsche Bank AG
- Jeffrey A. Rosen - Former senior partner, recently appointed United States Deputy of Secretary of Transportation
- Timothy Muris - Former chair of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission
- Michael J. Garcia - Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals
- Jeff Wall - Solicitor General of the United States
- Robert H. Bork - Former Solicitor General of the United States
Political contributions
Kirkland, through its employees, was a top-20 contributor to Barack Obama in 2008, giving at least $493,735. The firm's attorneys leaned heavily (77%) Democratic in their political contributions during the 2008 election cycle, which were substantial ($579,976 as of 10/29/07).
The firm has its own Political Action Committee (PAC), which gave 97% of its contributions to Democrats during the 2008 election cycle, as of 12/7/07. The firm's members have given more money to Illinois Senator Dick Durbin (by some measures the most liberal Democrat in the Senate) since 1989 than donors from any other company or organization.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Kirkland & Ellis was one of the top law firms contributing to federal candidates during the 2012 election cycle, donating $2.49 million, 59% to Republicans. By comparison, during that same period Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld donated $2.56, 66% to Democrats, while oil conglomerate ExxonMobil donated $2.66 million, 88% to Republicans. Since 1990, Kirkland & Ellis has contributed $9.83 million to federal campaigns.
Endowed professorships
The firm has endowed professorships in its name at four of the leading law schools in the United States:
- $1,500,000 endowment of the Kirkland & Ellis Professor of Law Chair at Harvard Law School (currently Michael Klarman).
- $1,250,000 endowment of the Kirkland & Ellis Professor of Law Chair at Northwestern University School of Law (currently David A. Dana).
- $1,175,000 endowment of the Kirkland & Ellis Professor of Law Chair at the University of Michigan Law School (currently Sherman J. Clark).
- $1,000,000 endowment of the Kirkland & Ellis Professor of Law Chair at the University of Chicago Law School (currently Eric Posner).
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