Kirkland & Ellis, the world’s highest-grossing law firm has decided that publishing its extraordinary profits is no longer particularly helpful, after years at the top of the rankings.
Kirkland has decided to stop voluntarily disclosing its financial performance to The American Lawyer, ending its participation in the annual financial reporting exercise that has become BigLaw’s favourite competitive sport.
According to an exclusive Financial Times report, the Chicago-founded giant believes publishing its revenue and profits no longer provides meaningful value to clients and risks putting financial measurements ahead of legal quality.
The decision also extends to other legal industry publications, according to Bloomberg Law.
And the numbers Kirkland is walking away from are hardly embarrassing.
The firm’s 2025 revenue reached a staggering $10.6 billion, with average profits per equity partner climbing to approximately $11.1 million. Those stellar figures made Kirkland the first law firm to break the $10 billion revenue barrier.
When Winning Becomes Awkward
Kirkland argues that financial rankings fail to capture what really matters which is the quality of legal advice and results delivered to clients.
But there is another, rather less comfortable interpretation, which is that when partners are collecting eight-figure profits while corporate clients face relentless pressure to control legal spending, perhaps broadcasting those extraordinary earnings is becoming a public relations liability.
And Kirkland is hardly alone in developing a taste for discretion.
Freshfields and Slaughter and May have also avoided detailed voluntary financial disclosure, as LawFuel previously reported.
The American Lawyer says its rankings will continue, using independent research and market sources where firms decline to participate.
Kirkland helped turn law firm profitability into a competitive weapon and the legal profession’s biggest cash generator is now ironically saying it would rather talk about something other than money.
Wonder why?
We think its all about client sensitivity in an increasingly cutthroat, cometitive and lucrative business. Still. That’s just us.
