Kirkland & Ellis just changed the frame for the entire industry
If you write about lawyers for long enough, you make a quiet peace with the gap between your pay packet and theirs. This week, however, Kirkland & Ellis has made that gap feel almost cosmic.
Equity partners at the world's highest-grossing law firm averaged $11.1 million each for 2025 - a 20% increase on 2024. The major money figure places Kirkland's partners in the earnings bracket of a top Premier League footballer, at roughly £22,500 a day.
The firm simultaneously became the first law firm in history to break $10 billion in revenue, posting $10.56 billion for the year.
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