Profit Per Equity Partner · Am Law 100 · 2024–2025
The $11 Million Club:
BigLaw's Partner Profit Machine
Kirkland & Ellis becomes the first firm in history to crack $10 billion in revenue — and $11 million in average partner profit. The 2026 Am Law rankings haven't even dropped yet.
Kirkland PEP (2025 prelim)
$11.1M
+20% year-on-year
Kirkland revenue 2025
$10.56B
First firm past $10B
Am Law 100 avg PEP
$3.15M
+12.3% in 2024
PEP growth since 2020
+80%
Kirkland equity partners
Top 10 firms by PEP — Am Law 100 (FY2024)
Profit per equity partner, $millions · scale: $0–$12M
Source: Am Law 100 / The American Lawyer, April 2025 (FY2024 data). ·
* 2025 Kirkland figures preliminary via Bloomberg Law & Global Legal Post, January 2026. ·
Scale anchored to $12M maximum. · Striped bar = preliminary unaudited.
The two models at the summit
Kirkland & Ellis
$11.1M
Preliminary 2025 PEP · +20% YoY
Revenue (2025)$10.56B
Revenue (2020)~$4.8B
Equity partners~595
PEP growth since 2020+80%
ModelVolume · PE firepower
Revenue per lawyer~$2.3M
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
$9.036M
2024 PEP · +6.2% YoY · 2025 awaited
Revenue per lawyer$4.47M
Profit margin78%
Equity partners~86
Offices1 (Manhattan)
ModelBoutique · M&A only
PEP #1 ranking22 of last 25 years
The great divergence — partner profits vs. associate pay
Indexed growth since 2020 (2020 = 100)
Partner profits up 80% at Kirkland since 2020. BigLaw first-year base salary up ~18% over the same period.
Kirkland PEP (equity partners)
BigLaw first-year base salary
* 2025 Kirkland PEP preliminary · Sources: Am Law 100, BigLaw Investor, Bloomberg Law
Full Am Law 100 PEP leaderboard — 2024
| # |
Firm |
PEP (2024) |
YoY Growth |
Model / Note |
| 1 |
Kirkland & Ellis New #1 |
$9.253M |
+16.2% |
Volume + PE / $8.8B revenue |
| 2 |
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz |
$9.036M |
+6.2% |
Boutique M&A / 78% margin |
| 3 |
Quinn Emanuel $9M in 2025 |
$8.643M |
+18.9% |
Litigation-only / $2k+/hr |
| 4 |
Davis Polk & Wardwell |
$7.800M |
+25.8% |
All-equity / shifted to perf. comp |
| 5 |
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett |
$7.664M |
+14.2% |
PE / corporate powerhouse |
| 6 |
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison |
$7.541M |
+22.1% |
Lit + M&A / largest rev jump in 2024 |
| 7 |
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher |
$7.175M |
+11.0% |
Diversified BigLaw |
| 8 |
Latham & Watkins |
$7.135M |
+29.0% |
Global / #1 M&A league tables 2025 |
| 9 |
Cravath, Swaine & Moore |
$6.850M |
+9.5% |
Lockstep / scale setter |
| 10 |
Milbank |
$6.812M |
+12.0% |
Finance / restructuring |
|
✦ 2025 preliminary: Kirkland & Ellis reports $11.1M PEP (Bloomberg Law, Jan 2026). Wachtell and others expected to report in spring 2026.
|
The partnership pyramid — Am Law 100, 2024
Who earns what — the three-tier structure
Equity partners · avg $3.15M (Am Law 100)
~49.1% of all partners · Shrinking denominator · Top firms $7M–$11M
Non-equity partners · avg $687,824
50.9% of all partners — first time a majority
Associates · $225K base (1st year) → $365K (8th year)
Non-equity partners now constitute an outright majority of all partners at Am Law 100 firms for the first time. Total Am Law 100 lawyer headcount: 123,953 (+7.7%). Highest individual billable hours in 2024: 3,800 (Sheppard Mullin).
The transatlantic gap
Approximate average PEP comparison — US elite vs. UK Magic Circle (2024/25)
Magic Circle (UK) — FY 2024/25 (USD approx.)
Magic Circle PEP based on £2.1–2.2M at approx. 1.27 USD/GBP. * 2025 US figures preliminary. Sources: Global Legal Post, Am Law 100, firm filings.