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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jaysen" data-source="post: 458" data-attributes="member: 1">Apologies for the delay guys! I haven't quite finished (I was going to put this up as a law firm insight), but in the meantime -Kirkland & EllisBig and profitable<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Kirkland’s 2017 financial results were announced last week and, thanks to a 19% growth in revenue, Kirkland is now the largest law firm in the world. The firm has expanded aggressively in recent years with an estimated 89% growth in revenue between 2009 and 2016 and it’s remarkable seeing how fast Kirkland moved up the rankings.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">But Kirkland isn’t just big, it’s profitable. That makes it stand out from rival Latham and other large law firms. The firm doesn’t set up shop everywhere, but targets a number of highly profitably geographies and practices. Unlike other US law firms, Kirkland has consistently grown its PEP over the last two decades. And the firm’s investment in practice areas like restructuring and litigation meant the firm could weather 2008 and 2009, a time when many law firm profits fell.</li> </ul>Partnership & Culture<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Kirkland’s associates make partner a lot quicker than other law firms, often after just 6PQE. In 2017, 97 lawyers became salaried partners with 13 in London. Most of these are in corporate, then debt finance.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Kirkland is known for paying huge amounts of money for targeted lateral hires and in many ways that has changed lateral law firm recruitment altogether. The magic circle and other US law firms have been forced to modify their lockstep model – where partners are paid according to seniority – to compete. That’s helped Kirkland to recruit star corporate partners from magic circle firms like the 2017 hire of David Higgins.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Kirkland’s remuneration system is even more flexible than other elite US firms. Kirkland’s top partners can earn 8 times more than its junior partners compared to 3 or 4 times more at rival firms. A few years ago Kirkland’s hire of star leveraged finance partner Stephen Lucas from Weil at a reported $8m shocked the market.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The firm is one of the most active lateral hirers in London. It recently took a team from Debevoise in New York and a 5 partner investigations and corruption team from Ropes & Gray.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Kirkland makes up more partners each year than almost any other law firm. That’s because the firm makes use of non-equity partners i.e. salaried partners who don’t have a stake in the business or join partner meetings. That’s useful for a number of reasons: it makes junior partners work hard to bring in business but they’re only paid a little more than they were as associates; it lets the firm heavily assess partner potential and if they’re not equity partner material, they can be told to leave; it keeps equity partner compensation high to attract lateral hires.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">But Kirkland has one of the highest attrition rates of any US law firm in London. According to The Lawyer, out of 40 associates that made partner in London between 2010 and 2015, only 25 remained by March 2016.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Kirkland is often described as competitive and ‘sharp elbowed’. Some point to the firm’s alleged ‘up or out’ policy and the heavy management of partner performance. Others have noted the clash between existing partners and newly hired laterals on large pay packets – allegedly a factor in the recent six-partner exit for Sidley Austin. But it’s difficult to say whether this is still the case. Kirkland recently introduced a number of measures to encourage group working and collaboration between partners.</li> </ul>London heavyweight<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Kirkland originally launched in London to serve its key US clients, including private equity firm Bain Capital. Kirkland quickly integrated and began promoting from within in contrast to other US law firms.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The firm also hired aggressively, picking up a number of partners for magic circle firms Linklaters and Freshfields.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Now Kirkland is the second largest US law firm in London thanks to a revenue rise of almost 50% in 2017. It’s also taking another floor in the Gherkin to compensate for a sharp rise in lawyer headcount.</li> </ul>Practice areas <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">In 2017, Kirkland topped the deal value rankings for UK M&A and placed fourth by global deal value. The firm excels in public M&A and this recently became a core practice area.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The firm boasts one of the best private equity practices in the City thanks to its strength in leveraged finance. Its finance team has been responsible for securing many private equity relationships, an area where rival Freshfields lags behind. Meanwhile, Kirkland has been trying to boost its corporate/M&A practice in London through a number of magic circle lateral hires.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Before it dominated the transactional space, Kirkland was mainly a litigation firm. And that shows today – in 2017, The Lawyer ranked Kirkland as the second largest litigation firm by revenue.</li> </ul></blockquote>

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