Kirkland & Ellis had a 2016 to remember, as gross revenue rose 15 percent from a year ago, to $2.65 billion, as the Chicago-based Am Law 100 firm also crossed a rarefied profits per partner barrier.
The firm, which in recent years has taken steps to change an “eat-what-you-kill” reputation, saw partner profits soar nearly 14 percent, to $4.1 million, last year. That puts Kirkland in an elite tier of top-earning firms for partners, whose ranks include Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan; Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; Cravath, Swaine & Moore; and Sullivan & Cromwell.
