K&L Gates LLP

K&L Gates is one of the largest law firms in the world, with approximately 2,000 lawyers across five continents. Among the firm’s top-notch practices are asset management and investment funds; corporate; energy and infrastructure; finance; intellectual property (IP); labor, employment, and workplace safety; litigation and dispute resolution; policy and regulatory; and real estate.

Multiplicity

The new millennium saw a flurry of mergers, which formed the firm we now call K&L Gates. In January 2007, Seattle’s Preston Gates & Ellis got hitched to Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham (itself the product of one of the largest U.S.-U.K. mergers in legal history: the 2005 pairing of Pittsburgh-based Kirkpatrick & Lockhart and London’s Nicholson Graham & Jones). A year later, the reshaped firm merged with Texas-based Hughes & Luce, increasing K&L Gates’ presence in the Lone Star State. In July 2008, the firm combined with Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman, a household name in Carolina legal circles; the merger gave K&L Gates a significant presence throughout the Carolinas. The addition of Chicago firm Bell, Boyd & Lloyd’s 250 lawyers and lobbyists in March 2009 bolstered K&L Gates’ ranks in Chicago and DC. In 2013, K&L Gates merged with Australian firm Middletons, giving the firm a presence in the Land Down Under. Most recently, the firm added offices in Nashville, Luxembourg, Dublin, and Kansas City, MO.

Diversifying

K&L Gates takes a full-service approach to its work with clients across many industries. Unlike some big firms that rely on a few key clients for the bulk of their billings, K&L Gates’ policy of diversification means that its revenues are spread widely across many clients. Among its reputable practices, K&L Gates boasts an impressive renewable energy practice. The firm’s clients work across solar, wind, biomass, hydropower, geothermal, and other sectors. Additionally, the firm pulls in its experience across industries to provide counsel on everything from acquisitions, financing, IP, licensing, regulatory matters, tax, and much more.

The firm is home to a large corporate practice; in fact, its M&A practice alone has more than 400 lawyers. The firm’s corporate clients include the Global 500, Fortune 100, and FTSE 100 companies, as well as startups, investment funds, and individuals. The firm’s corporate lawyers work across myriad industries, such as energy, financial services, healthcare, infrastructure, life sciences, manufacturing, technology, telecommunications, and transportation. The firm rode out the pandemic successfully, seeing increases in cross-office and cross-practice work, inter-office revenue, and profitability over those years.

The Best Place

K&L Gates is dedicated to pro bono: Over the past few years, the firm devoted more than 46,000 hours to pro bono matters. This pro bono work included firmwide initiatives, such as K&L Gates for Equal Justice, which focuses on voting rights, criminal justice reform, and justice for indigenous people; the Cyber Civil Rights Legal Project, which assists victims of nonconsensual pornography; and Anti-Human Trafficking Initiative, which aims to help victims of human trafficking. The firm also partners with dozens of community organizations, and on an individual basis, all employees are encouraged to volunteer and provide services within their own communities.

• Advised Microsoft Corp. on its further investment in San Francisco-based OpenAI, the AI laboratory behind the experimental online chatbot ChatGPT. Assisted Microsoft with its initial $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI in 2019 and subsequent investment in 2021.
• Assisted Focus Financial Partners Inc., a leading partnership of independent, fiduciary wealth management firms, on its acquisition by funds affiliated with Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, LLC, and Stone Point Capital LLC in an all-cash transaction with an enterprise value in excess of $7 billion.
• Represented Abu Dhabi’s Invest AD in the establishment and licensing of a fund management subsidiary, which was the first manager authorized by the Securities and Commodities Authority under its new regulations. In another first under the new regulations, the firm also acted as sole legal counsel in the formation and approval of the Invest AD Blackstone Private Debt Fund, the first UAE-based private credit feeder fund for professional investors.
• Represented Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in its long-standing patent infringement suit against chipmaker Marvell Technology Group Ltd. and Marvell Semiconductor Inc. that culminated in a $750 million settlement for CMU.

• Most Recommended Law Firms, 2025—BTI Consulting
• Law Firm of the Year, Securities Regulation, Best Law Firms, 2025—Best Lawyers
• Nearly 60 practice rankings, including 12 nationwide rankings, and nearly 160 lawyers recognized, 2024—Chambers USA
• Pro Bono Innovator, 2024—Bloomberg Law
• Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion, Disability Equality Index, 2024— Disability:IN