Kirkland & Ellis Sets New Big Law Benchmark

Suzi Ring's latest Full Disclosure newsletter for the Financial Times takes stock of early 2025 financial results across Big Law — and the headline figure is hard to ignore: Kirkland has become the first law firm to break the $10bn annual revenue barrier, reporting $10.6bn for 2025. Equity partners at the firm averaged $11.1mn each — a new record.

The results aren't confined to Kirkland. Cooley posted an 18 per cent increase in profit per equity partner, with partners averaging $4.57mn, while Goodwin surpassed the $4mn PEP mark for the first time.

Macrae London’s Siobhán Lewington comments in the piece on what's driving the sustained growth across the elite end of the market:

"The elite law firms are continuing to deliver consistent year-on-year double-digit growth. This is the result of a laser focus on taking greater market share by hiring the best talent . . . [and] the increasing adoption of a two-tier partnership structure also allows firms greater flexibility."

The numbers reflect a broader trend of strategic investment in talent at the top of the market — and suggest that, for the firms that have committed to that model, the returns continue to compound.

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