Kirkland & Ellis will stop sharing its financial figures with the legal industry’s flagship ranking of law firm profits and revenues, concluding it is no longer “appropriate or necessary” to disclose results. The world’s highest-grossing law firm told The American Lawyer, an industry magazine which has for decades relied on law firms to voluntarily produce their financial data for the ranking, that it will no longer share the information.
In a letter sent to Am Law on Wednesday obtained by the FT, the firm said disclosing the information did not provide “meaningful value” to its clients and having it included in rankings “could incentivise quantitative metrics over qualitative strengths”. Kirkland lawyers were informed of the decision in a firm-wide email on Wednesday. It comes at a time when pay for top lawyers has soared, with the most successful earning tens of millions of dollars per year.
Am Law told the FT its ranking would continue to provide a reliable picture of the market. Kirkland’s disclosures for 2025 showed a record $10.6bn in revenue, up from $8.8bn the previous year. The firm’s equity partners were paid an average of $11.1mn, a 20 per cent increase on 2024. Kirkland’s executive committee has for several years considered withholding financial performance data from Am Law.
It is the latest move by a large law firm to shield details of its financial performance. Freshfields announced in 2023 it would no longer voluntarily report its financial results. New York firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and London’s Slaughter and May also do not share results with Am Law.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing