Kirkland & Ellis’ ‘Plaintiff-Side’ Trial Division Move Pays Off With $200 Million Legal Fee

Kirkland & Ellis' 'Plaintiff-Side' Trial Division Move Pays Off With $200 Million Legal Fee

BigLaw giant Kirkland & Ellis has picked up a $200 million fee in a contingency legal case involving chemical companies.

Law.com reports that the fee was revealed in a press release from Kirkland & Ellis client Huntsman Corp which“shows that Kirkland & Ellis’ strategic decision to ‘double down’ on contingency fee cases is paying off in a big way.”

The firm formed a plaintiff-side trial division to handle contingency or other alternative fee arrangements in 2019 and the move has paid off with this – and possibly other fees still to come under the fee arrangement.

Kirkland issued proceedings for Huntsman Corp that alleged that a rival company had engaged in fraud and breached a contract after the sale of chemical businesses to Huntsman.

Nov. 5 press release announced an agreement between the companies and said that the defendant company would pay $665 million in two payments to end the dispute.

“Net of legal fees but before taxes, Huntsman will receive $465,000,000 in total,” according to the press release.

Kirkland & Ellis has been one of the world’s highest-grossing law firms and has taken a different approach to partnership elevation from many of its Big Law rivals, by hastening internal promotions and making moves like the plaintiff-side trial division that has helped generate the massive fee achieved in the reported case.

 

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