Kirkland & Ellis

Kirkland & Ellis, one of the world’s most elite law firms, is known for its corporate, intellectual property, litigation, M&A, private equity, and restructuring work. With more than 4,000 lawyers, the firm is regularly recognized as one of the most successful in the world.

From Tribune to Trial

In 1909, fresh-faced attorneys Stuart Shepard and Robert McCormick struck up a partnership in Chicago. McCormick’s grandfather founded The Chicago Tribune, and McCormick left the firm in 1920 to become the paper’s publisher—a move that he used to send more business the firm’s way, tapping Kirkland trial lawyer Weymouth Kirkland to defend The Tribune in defamation suits. Kirkland soon eclipsed the firm founders as the face of the outfit, carving a legacy defined by his defense of newspapers in significant free speech and libel cases. As for the other half of the current firm’s nameplate, Howard Ellis came on board in 1915. Ellis was a champion of the “fair comment” defense, a privilege that protects published or spoken opinions directed at public officials and figures.

Tops at Trials and Transactions

Kirkland lawyers work across more than 60 practice areas. Some of the biggest names, including Abbott Laboratories, Ares Management, Bain Capital, Blackstone Group, BP, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Dow Chemical, Eli Lilly, General Motors, IBM, Intel, KKR, Oaktree Capital, Samsung, and Vista Equity Partners, among others—call on the firm for help with their most complex issues.

Kirkland has a booming transactional practice. The firm is a private equity powerhouse—with more than 500 private equity firms among its client list—and is the No. 1 firm in Vault’s Private Equity ranking. The firm handles all aspects of deals, from fundraising to exits. Its M&A lawyers are among the best in the industry. Nestled within the top five firms of Vault’s M&A ranking, Kirkland advises on some of the biggest deals. The practice brings interdisciplinary experience, with lawyers from antitrust, executive compensation, finance, IP, regulatory, and tax groups collaborating with the M&A team.

The firm is also home to an all-star restructuring team that works in wide-ranging industries such as automotive, energy, entertainment, healthcare, manufacturing, media, real estate, retail, telecommunications, and transportation. The firm’s litigation department is a force as well—and we mean force. The firm has more than 1,000 litigators around the globe, handling everything from consumer fraud, ERISA, and product liability to securities litigation and so much more.

Colleagues for Life

There’s no such thing as burning bridges at Kirkland—lawyers who retire or pursue outside opportunities are considered “colleagues for life.” The firm’s career support program CareerLink—which was recognized by Financial Times’ North America Innovative Lawyers Awards in 2016—provides the firm’s lawyers and qualifying alumni access to one-on-one, confidential career coaching, as well as job-searching tools for those looking to exit, including a “playbook,” a job board, and tips on everything from resumes to interviewing and networking. Alumni also have access to a comprehensive directory, networking events, and free CLEs.

• A Kirkland litigation team devoted 38,000 pro bono hours to a 12-year case for Maryland’s HBCUs, resulting in a landmark $577 million settlement and remedial plan to help dismantle vestiges of segregation in the state’s higher education system and develop new programming. 
• Kirkland’s renowned litigators routinely win high-stakes matters such as the complete defense jury verdict for Samsung in February 2024 in a multipatent lawsuit alleging $4 billion in damages, which would’ve been the largest patent verdict in U.S. history. The firm also led 3M in America’s largest multidistrict litigation matter.
• Kirkland leads many cutting-edge transactions including the landmark agreement by Brookfield Infrastructure Partners with Intel to jointly fund a $30 billion semiconductor plant in Arizona, and GLP’s $18.7 billion sale of its U.S. logistics business to Blackstone, the largest private real estate transaction ever at the time and one of the largest sponsor buyouts ever.
• A Kirkland restructuring team advised WeWork and its affiliates on its Chapter 11 filing, one of the largest jointly administered bankruptcy filings on record. Facing pandemic-related and economic challenges, WeWork renegotiated its leases and equitized all $4.3 billion of its prepetition -funded debt obligations, emerging from Chapter 11 in June 2024.

• America's Greatest Workplaces, 2025—Newsweek
• Firm of the Year, 2024—Law360
• Best Companies to Work For: Law Firms, 2024—U.S. News & World Report
• America's Top Law Firms of 2024—TIME and Statista
• Prestige Leaders, 2024; Most Desirable Firm to Summer At (as ranked by summer associates), 2022-2025—Law360