Kirkland & Ellis
 | |
| Headquarters | 300 North LaSalle, Chicago,[1] Illinois, United States |
|---|---|
| No. of offices | 12 total, 5 international |
| No. of attorneys | 1,517 (2012) |
| Major practice areas | General practice |
| Revenue | $2.15 billion (2014) |
| Date founded | 1909 |
| Company type | Limited liability partnership |
| Website | www.kirkland.com |
Kirkland & Ellis LLP is an international law firm headquartered and founded in Chicago. Known for its work in cases that go to trial, law firm Kirkland & Ellis maintains a variety of practices aimed mainly at corporate clients. Besides litigation, the firm's core practice areas include corporate transactions, intellectual property, restructuring, and tax. Kirkland has offices in Beijing, Chicago, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Munich, New York, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Shanghai and Washington, D.C.
The firm had gross revenue of approximately $2.15 billion in 2014, a 6.6% increase from 2013. As of 2015, it was the sixth largest law firm by headcount in the United States and the fifth largest by revenue. Kirkland is the sixth most profitable law firm per partner, with estimated profits per partner of $3.51 million in 2014, a 7% increase from 2013.[2] Vault's 2016 rankings placed Kirkland as the number one firm in Chicago, and among the top ten best firms in the United States.[3]
Notable clients
The firm was the primary outside law firm representing BP in litigation related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Volkswagen also hired Kirkland & Ellis after Volkswagen emissions scandal started.[4]
Political contributions
Kirkland, through its employees, was a top-20 contributor to Barack Obama in 2008, giving at least $493,735.[5] 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).[6]
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.[7] The firm's members have given more money to Illinois Senator Dick Durbin (by some measures the most liberal Democrat in the Senate)[8] since 1989 than donors from any other company or organization.[9]
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).[10]
- $1,250,000 endowment of the Kirkland & Ellis Professor of Law Chair at Northwestern University School of Law (currently David A. Dana).[11]
- $1,175,000 endowment of the Kirkland & Ellis Professor of Law Chair at the University of Michigan Law School (currently Sherman J. Clark).[12][13]
- $1,000,000 endowment of the Kirkland & Ellis Professor of Law Chair at the University of Chicago Law School (currently Eric Posner).[14]
References
- ^ "Kirkland & Ellis LLP". Lawyer.com. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
- ^ "Profits Per Partner: Profits Increase Moderately". The American Lawyer. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- ^ "Kirkland & Ellis LLP". vault.com. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- ^ "Volkswagen hires BP oil spill lawyers to defend emissions cases". www.theguardian.com. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Sen. Barack Obama: Campaign Finance/Money - Top Donors - Senator 2008 - OpenSecrets". opensecrets.org. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- ^ "Agribusiness". opensecrets.org. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- ^ View source - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- ^ "National Politics - Chicago Tribune". swamppolitics.com. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- ^ Dick Durbin: Campaign Finance/Money - Contributions - 1989-2006
- ^ "Klarman, taking Kirkland & Ellis Chair, examines 'Racial Equality in American History' (video) - Harvard Law Today". Harvard Law Today. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- ^ "Permanent". northwestern.edu. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- ^ "Chicago firm endows Law School professorship". umich.edu. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- ^ "Clark, Sherman J. - University of Michigan Law School". umich.edu. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- ^ "Eric Posner". uchicago.edu. Retrieved 23 September 2015.