Kirkland & Ellis LLP: Firm Profile, Practice Areas, Summer Associate Program, and How to Get Hired

^{By the Top Law Schools Editorial Team · Updated October 2026}

 

Kirkland & Ellis is the highest-grossing law firm in the world, built on private equity, restructuring, and trial work. This profile explains how the firm makes money, how its two-tier partnership works, what the summer program looks like, and what it takes to get an offer in today's early-recruiting market.

 

Kirkland at a Glance

 

Fact	Detail
Founded	1909, Chicago
Lawyers	About 4,145 (Everything-PR summary of Am Law data)
2025 gross revenue	More than $10.56 billion, up about 20 percent, the first law firm above $10 billion (Law.com)
Partners	About 1,823, up roughly 9 percent (Law.com)
2025 revenue per lawyer	$2.55 million, up nearly 11 percent (Law.com)
2025 profits per equity partner	About $11.12 million, second only to Wachtell Lipton (Law.com, NYLJ 100)
Signature practices	Private equity, M&A, investment funds, restructuring, complex litigation and trial, intellectual property
Partnership structure	Two tiers: nonshare (income) partners and share (equity) partners
Summer program	Open assignment system; offices across the U.S.; application opens November 1, 2026 (Kirkland)

How Kirkland Became the Largest Firm by Revenue

 

Kirkland began as a Chicago litigation firm and remained known mainly for trial work for most of the 20th century. Its transformation came from three strategic choices:

1. Betting early on private equity. Kirkland built deep relationships with private equity sponsors when the industry was young and grew with it. Sponsors generate a steady stream of acquisitions, financings, fund formations, and exits, plus restructuring work when portfolio companies struggle.
2. Building a market-leading restructuring practice. Restructuring complements private equity and is countercyclical: when deal activity slows, distressed work increases.
3. Aggressive lateral hiring and a two-tier partnership. Kirkland recruits top partners from rival firms with compensation packages few competitors can match, and its nonshare partner tier lets it promote associates to partner earlier while reserving equity for the most profitable.

 

The result is a firm that grew revenue about 20 percent in 2025 alone and became the first to cross $10 billion (Law.com).

 

Kirkland's Growth in Context

 

Period	Milestone
1909	Firm founded in Chicago; for decades it's known mainly for litigation
1990s to 2000s	Grows its private equity, restructuring, and funds practices alongside the private equity industry
2000s to 2010s	Expands rapidly in New York, Texas, California, London, and Asia, often through high-profile lateral partner hires
2020s	Becomes the world's highest-grossing law firm, opens offices including Nashville, Philadelphia, and Riyadh
2025	First law firm to report more than $10 billion in annual revenue (Law.com)
2026	Largest-ever Miami summer class and a new four-week 1L experience for committed students (Kirkland)

Offices

 

Kirkland lists about 4,000 lawyers across its international platform (Kirkland). Its office list currently includes:

Region	Offices
U.S. Northeast and Mid-Atlantic	New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C.
U.S. Midwest and South	Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Austin, Miami, Nashville
U.S. West	Los Angeles, San Francisco, Palo Alto, Salt Lake City
Europe	London, Paris, Munich, Frankfurt, Brussels
Asia and Middle East	Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, Riyadh

 

Source: Kirkland.

 

How Office Choice Affects Your Experience

 

Each Kirkland office has its own practice mix, and that shapes the matters you'll see as a junior associate.

Office type	What to expect
Chicago	The firm's historic home; deep in litigation, restructuring, private equity, and tax
New York	Largest concentration of private equity, debt finance, capital markets, and restructuring
Washington, D.C.	Government enforcement, antitrust, appellate, regulatory, and litigation
Texas offices	Energy transactions, private equity, and a growing litigation presence
California offices	Private equity, technology transactions, IP litigation, and investment funds
Newer U.S. offices (Miami, Nashville, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City)	Smaller teams, often more direct partner contact, frequent cross-office staffing
International offices	Mostly transactional, funds, and restructuring; usually hire laterally or from local law schools

 

When you choose a primary office on your application, pick a city where you can explain a real connection: you grew up there, went to school there, have family there, or have a credible career reason to build your practice there. Kirkland interviewers routinely ask why you chose a specific office.

 

Practice Areas

 

Practice	What Kirkland is known for	What junior lawyers do
Private equity and M&A	Leading adviser to PE sponsors on buyouts, add-ons, and exits; public company M&A	Diligence, drafting ancillary documents, managing signing and closing checklists
Investment funds	Formation of PE, credit, infrastructure, and secondaries funds	Drafting fund documents, investor side letters, regulatory filings
Debt finance	Leveraged finance for sponsor-backed deals	Drafting credit agreements and security documents
Capital markets	IPOs and high-yield offerings, often for sponsor portfolio companies	Disclosure drafting, diligence
Restructuring	Debtor-side Chapter 11 cases and out-of-court restructurings	Court filings, first-day motions, research, negotiations support
Litigation and trial	Commercial, securities, product liability, government enforcement	Research, briefing, discovery, trial preparation
Intellectual property	Patent litigation, especially in technology and life sciences	Technical and legal research, expert work
Tax	Structuring for PE transactions and funds	Tax structuring memos, deal support
Antitrust and regulatory	Merger clearance, government investigations	Filings, research
Executive compensation and benefits	Management equity in sponsor deals	Drafting equity plans and employment terms

 

For students, the key point is that private equity touches almost every Kirkland practice. Even litigation and restructuring often involve sponsor clients and their portfolio companies.

 

A Private Equity Primer for Kirkland Applicants

 

You don't need to be a finance expert to interview at Kirkland, but you should understand the business that produces most of its work. This is the minimum.

 

How a Private Equity Fund Works

 

1. A sponsor raises a fund. A private equity firm (the sponsor or general partner) raises money from investors (limited partners) such as pension funds, endowments, sovereign wealth funds, insurers, and wealthy families. Kirkland's investment funds lawyers draft the fund's limited partnership agreement, private placement memorandum, and side letters.
2. The fund buys companies. The sponsor uses the fund's equity plus borrowed money to acquire companies. This is a leveraged buyout (LBO). Kirkland's M&A lawyers negotiate the purchase agreement; its debt finance lawyers negotiate the loans.
3. The sponsor owns and improves the company. The acquired business becomes a portfolio company. The sponsor may buy smaller companies to combine with it (add-on acquisitions), refinance its debt, or pay itself dividends funded by new debt (dividend recapitalizations).
4. The sponsor exits. After several years, the sponsor sells the company to another buyer, sells it to another sponsor, or takes it public through an IPO. Each exit is another deal.
5. If things go wrong, restructuring. If a portfolio company can't service its debt, it may restructure out of court or file for Chapter 11. Kirkland's restructuring lawyers often represent the company.

 

One sponsor client can therefore generate fund formation, acquisitions, financings, tax structuring, executive compensation, capital markets, litigation, and restructuring work. That's why the private equity relationship is so valuable to the firm.

 

Key Terms to Know

 

Term	What it means
Sponsor	The private equity firm that manages a fund and makes investments
Limited partners (LPs)	The investors in a private equity fund
General partner (GP)	The entity, controlled by the sponsor, that manages the fund
Portfolio company	A company owned by a private equity fund
Leveraged buyout (LBO)	An acquisition funded largely with borrowed money
Add-on acquisition	A smaller company bought to combine with an existing portfolio company
Purchase agreement	The main contract for buying a company
Disclosure schedules	Lists that qualify the seller's representations in a purchase agreement
Representations and warranties	Factual statements about the business in the purchase agreement
R&W insurance	Insurance that covers losses from breaches of representations, common in sponsor deals
Credit agreement	The main loan contract for a financing
Continuation fund	A vehicle that lets a sponsor hold an asset longer by moving it from an older fund to a new one
Secondaries	Transactions in which investors buy or sell existing fund interests
Carried interest	The sponsor's share of fund profits, typically about 20 percent

 

What a First-Year Does on a Private Equity Deal

 

Deal phase	Junior associate tasks
Diligence	Review the target's contracts, leases, permits, and litigation; summarize issues in a diligence memo
Drafting	Prepare ancillary documents, officer certificates, resolutions, and disclosure schedules
Signing	Manage the signing checklist, collect signature pages, coordinate with specialists
Regulatory	Help prepare antitrust and foreign investment filings
Closing	Run the closing checklist, track conditions, organize the closing set
Post-closing	Organize final documents and handle follow-up obligations

A Restructuring Primer

 

Kirkland's restructuring practice is one of the firm's signature groups, and it's a common interest among summer associates who want courtroom exposure on the transactional side.

 

The Chapter 11 Lifecycle

 

Stage	What happens	Junior associate work
Pre-filing	The company negotiates with creditors and prepares for a possible bankruptcy	Research, drafting term sheets, preparing first-day papers
First day	The company files and asks the court for authority to operate (paying employees, using cash, continuing business)	Drafting first-day motions and declarations
Case administration	Claims process, contract decisions, creditor negotiations	Research, motions, claim analysis
Plan negotiation	The company and creditors negotiate who gets what	Drafting plan documents and disclosure statements
Confirmation	The court approves the plan	Preparing for confirmation hearings, witness preparation
Emergence	The company exits bankruptcy with a new capital structure	Closing documents and implementation

 

Why Restructuring Is Countercyclical

 

When deal markets are strong, companies refinance easily and restructuring is quieter. When interest rates rise or a sector struggles, more companies need to restructure. Because Kirkland has both a large private equity practice and a large restructuring practice, it keeps busy in both strong and weak markets. Restructuring is also one of the few transactional practices where junior lawyers regularly see the inside of a courtroom.

 

Litigation at Kirkland

 

Kirkland's origins are in litigation, and the trial practice remains one of the largest in the country. Litigators handle complex commercial disputes, securities and shareholder litigation, product liability and mass torts, patent cases, antitrust litigation, government and internal investigations, and appeals.

For students, three points stand out:

• Trial focus. The firm has long emphasized trying cases, and junior litigators are trained in trial skills. Ask interviewers how often junior associates take depositions and examine witnesses.
• Sponsor-related litigation. Many disputes arise from private equity deals, including earnout disputes, purchase-price adjustments, and fiduciary duty claims.
• Open assignment applies to litigation too. Junior litigators seek out cases, so you can build experience across several types of disputes.

The Two-Tier Partnership

 

Kirkland has two partnership tiers:

• Nonshare (income) partners receive a salary and bonus, carry the partner title, and are typically promoted after about six to eight years.
• Share (equity) partners own a stake in the firm's profits.

 

What this means for you:

Advantage	Trade-off
A faster path to the partner title than most lockstep firms	Nonshare status doesn't guarantee a path to equity
Partner-level client exposure earlier	Equity promotion is selective and performance-driven
A credential that helps for in-house or lateral moves	Compensation varies widely among partners

 

Ask interviewers how long associates typically wait for nonshare promotion in your target group and what share of nonshare partners eventually become share partners.

 

The Summer Associate Program

 

Open Assignment

 

Kirkland's summer program uses an open assignment system that gives summer associates realistic exposure to practice from day one (Kirkland). Rather than being assigned to a rotation, you seek out work from lawyers in any practice. This mirrors the firm's associate system, where juniors build their own practices by finding work they want.

The open assignment model rewards students who are proactive, comfortable approaching partners, and organized enough to manage several projects at once. It can feel unstructured to students who prefer a set rotation.

 

Timeline

 

Kirkland's summer associate application opens November 1, 2026. Applicants indicate a primary office and preferred practice groups, interviews run on a rolling basis, and offers are determined once first-semester grades are released (Kirkland).

That matches the broader market: many large firms now recruit 1Ls during their first semester for the 2L summer, and some school-run interview programs for 2028 summer positions take place in January 2027 (LSAC).

 

1L Program and Office Growth

 

In 2026, Kirkland began offering a four-week summer experience for 1Ls who've committed to the firm for their 2L summer, so they can explore practice areas early. Its Miami office illustrates the firm's growth: the 2026 summer class there had 21 students, up from eight in 2023, with 34 expected in 2027. The firm reported hiring 11 percent of Miami applicants and an 85 percent offer-acceptance rate (Kirkland, citing the Daily Business Review).

 

Practice Deep Dives for Summer Associates

 

Because open assignment lets you work across practices, use your summer to sample the groups below. Here's what each looks like day to day.

 

Investment Funds

 

Funds lawyers represent sponsors raising private equity, credit, infrastructure, real estate, and secondaries funds. The work is document-heavy and relationship-driven: you'll draft and negotiate limited partnership agreements, side letters with investors, and subscription documents, and you'll help structure funds for tax and regulatory purposes. Funds work suits students who like precise drafting, enjoy negotiation, and want relatively steady, long-term client relationships. Hours can be heavy around fund closings, but fundraising cycles are more predictable than M&A.

 

Debt Finance

 

Debt finance lawyers negotiate the loans that fund acquisitions and keep portfolio companies running. At Kirkland, they typically represent borrowers and sponsors rather than banks. Juniors draft credit agreements, security documents, and closing deliverables, and coordinate with local counsel around the world. The pace follows the M&A market, with peaks when deals sign and close. It's a good fit if you like structured problem-solving and detailed contracts.

 

Capital Markets

 

Capital markets lawyers handle IPOs, high-yield bond offerings, and other securities transactions, often for sponsor-backed companies. Juniors work on diligence, draft parts of offering documents, and manage SEC filings. Expect intense periods tied to market windows.

 

Tax

 

Tax lawyers structure acquisitions, funds, and restructurings to manage tax consequences for sponsors, investors, and companies. Junior tax associates research complex issues and draft structuring memos. Tax suits students who enjoy technical analysis and want a practice that's central to every deal but less dominated by closing-day crunches. An LL.M. in tax isn't required, but coursework in federal income tax and partnership tax helps.

 

Executive Compensation and Benefits

 

These lawyers design management equity plans, negotiate employment agreements for portfolio company executives, and handle benefits issues in acquisitions. The work combines tax, securities, and employment law.

 

Intellectual Property Litigation

 

Kirkland's IP litigators handle patent trials, often for technology and life sciences companies. A technical background is helpful but not always required. Juniors research claim construction issues, work with experts, and prepare for trial.

 

Antitrust and Government Enforcement

 

Antitrust lawyers clear mergers with competition authorities and defend investigations. Government enforcement lawyers handle investigations by the DOJ, SEC, and other agencies. These groups are concentrated in Washington, D.C., and offer regulatory and policy exposure.

 

Making the Most of Your Kirkland Summer

 

Week	Goal	Tactics
1	Get oriented	Attend training, meet your mentors, take your first assignment from the group you're most curious about
2 to 3	Sample practices	Take one project from each of two or three different groups
4 to 6	Go deeper	Ask for a second assignment from teams you liked; volunteer for meetings, calls, and court appearances
7 to 8	Show reliability	Deliver polished work on time; follow up with supervising lawyers for feedback
Final weeks	Plan your next step	Tell recruiting and your mentors which groups you'd like to join

 

Tips:

• Treat every assignment like client work. Polish matters; so do deadlines.
• Ask clarifying questions at the start, including the format, deadline, and scope of each project.
• Keep a record of each assignment, the supervising lawyer, and feedback received.
• Attend events, but not at the expense of work quality.
• Don't overcommit. Turning down an assignment politely is better than delivering late.

What Kirkland Looks For

 

Trait	Why it matters at Kirkland	How to show it
Strong first-semester grades	Offers are made on first-semester grades	Prioritize exams; don't neglect legal writing
Initiative	The open assignment system rewards self-starters	Examples of building something or seeking responsibility
Commercial interest	Private equity clients drive most of the work	Know how a leveraged buyout works and why sponsors hire law firms
Resilience under pressure	Deal and restructuring timelines are intense	Stories about deadlines, competing demands, high-stakes work
Office commitment	Applicants pick a primary office	A clear reason for your chosen city

 

Interview Preparation

 

• Learn the basics of private equity: what a fund is, how a buyout is financed, what a portfolio company is, and how sponsors exit.
• Know the difference between Kirkland's restructuring role and a creditor-side practice. Kirkland is best known for representing debtors.
• Prepare an answer about the open assignment system: why it suits you and how you'd manage it.
• Have a story about initiative, such as when you sought out responsibility without being asked.
• Ask about the partnership tiers and associate development in your target group.

 

Sample questions to ask interviewers:

1. How do junior associates in your group find their first matters under open assignment?
2. What distinguishes associates who make nonshare partner early?
3. How has the growth of [office] changed the work juniors get?
4. How much cross-office staffing does your group do?

Application Checklist

 

Item	Tips
Resume	One page; highlight leadership, prior work experience, and any finance or business exposure
Transcript	Include first-semester grades as soon as they're available
Writing sample	Usually your legal writing memo; edit it carefully
Office choice	Pick a primary office with a clear connection
Practice preferences	Indicate real interests, not just the most popular groups
References	Professors, legal writing instructors, or former supervisors
Story bank	Five to six short examples: initiative, teamwork, pressure, leadership, failure, why Kirkland

Interview Questions to Expect

 

Question	What the interviewer is looking for	How to answer
Why Kirkland?	Specific interest in the firm's work and model	Mention private equity, restructuring, trial work, or open assignment, plus a conversation you had with a Kirkland lawyer
Why this office?	Commitment to the city	A genuine connection and career reason
How would you handle open assignment?	Initiative and organization	Describe how you've managed several projects at once and sought out responsibility
Tell me about a time you worked under pressure	Resilience	A specific example with a clear result
What do you know about private equity?	Commercial awareness	Explain the fund lifecycle in a few sentences
What practice interests you and why?	Thoughtfulness	Link your interest to prior experience or coursework
What questions do you have for me?	Curiosity and preparation	Ask about their path, their group's work, and how juniors get experience

Compensation

 

Kirkland pays at the top of the market for associates. The market benchmark moved in 2026: Milbank raised first-year base salary to $235,000, effective July 1, 2026, with the scale reaching $455,000 for eighth-years (Sartori). Cravath's own published scale remained at $225,000 to $420,000 as of late September 2026 (Sartori). Confirm Kirkland's current base and bonus structure during recruiting.

Bonuses at Kirkland can vary more by performance than at strictly lockstep firms, so ask how hours, reviews, and practice contribute to year-end bonuses.

 

Culture and Work Environment

 

Kirkland is often described as entrepreneurial, demanding, and meritocratic. Associates who thrive tend to like autonomy and fast-moving deals. Common points to evaluate:

• Hours: Private equity and restructuring are among the most demanding practices in law.
• Autonomy: Open assignment means more freedom and more responsibility for your own development.
• Office differences: Experience varies by office and group. Talk to associates in your target office.
• Advancement: The nonshare track offers an earlier partner title but a selective path to equity.

Life as a Kirkland Junior Associate

 

Your First Year

 

Period	What typically happens
First weeks	Orientation, training on firm systems, initial matters from your summer contacts
First three months	You'll pick up assignments across several matters, learning which partners and teams you want to work with
Months four to nine	You'll start getting repeat work from the same teams; workload becomes heavier and less predictable
End of year one	Reviews; you'll have a clearer sense of your practice focus

 

How to Succeed Under Open Assignment

 

The open assignment system gives you control, but it also means nobody automatically fills your plate. Associates who thrive tend to:

1. Say yes early, then become selective. Take varied work in the first months, then concentrate on teams you want to keep working with.
2. Track your commitments. Keep a simple list of every matter, deadline, and supervising lawyer. Overcommitting is the most common first-year mistake.
3. Communicate capacity honestly. Tell partners when you're full; don't miss deadlines because you accepted too much.
4. Find a mentor in each group you like. Midlevel associates are often the best source of work and practical advice.
5. Ask for feedback. Don't wait for formal reviews.

 

Hours and Workload

 

Private equity, debt finance, and restructuring are among the busiest practices in Biglaw. Expect weeks that are calm followed by stretches of very long days around signings, closings, and court deadlines. Litigation tends to be more predictable week to week, with intense periods before trials and major filings. Ask associates in your target group about their average weekly hours and how often weekends are affected.

 

Pros and Cons of Kirkland for Law Students

 

Pros	Cons
Top-of-market pay and very high-profile work	Demanding hours, especially in transactional groups
Market-leading private equity and restructuring practices	Open assignment can feel unstructured
Early partner title through the nonshare tier	Equity partnership is selective
Broad exit options to sponsors, portfolio companies, and other firms	Performance-driven culture isn't for everyone
Large and growing summer classes in many offices	Experience varies widely by office and group

Exit Options from Kirkland

 

Kirkland's private equity work creates distinctive career paths:

• In-house at private equity sponsors. Sponsors frequently hire Kirkland alumni as in-house counsel or legal operations leaders.
• In-house at portfolio companies. General counsel and deputy GC roles at sponsor-backed companies.
• Investment funds and secondaries. Roles at fund administrators, placement agents, and secondaries buyers.
• Restructuring advisory. Some restructuring lawyers move to financial advisory firms or distressed investors.
• Government. Litigators often move to the DOJ, SEC, or U.S. Attorney's Offices.
• Other firms. Kirkland alumni are in demand for lateral partner and associate roles.

Kirkland vs. Peer Firms

 

Firm	Distinctive strength	Contrast with Kirkland
Wachtell Lipton	Public company M&A and takeover defense	One office, about 272 lawyers, higher profits per partner
Latham & Watkins	Global full-service, strong PE and capital markets	Similar scale, more international
Simpson Thacher	PE sponsors and funds	Lockstep partnership, smaller
Paul Weiss	M&A, litigation, growing PE	New York-centered
Sullivan & Cromwell	Financial institutions and public M&A	Traditional lockstep, New York-centered

Frequently Asked Questions

 

How Much Revenue Does Kirkland & Ellis Make?

 

Kirkland reported more than $10.56 billion in gross revenue for 2025, up about 20 percent, making it the first law firm to exceed $10 billion.

 

What Is a Nonshare Partner at Kirkland?

 

A nonshare partner holds the partner title and receives salary and bonus but doesn't own equity. Share partners own equity in the firm's profits. Nonshare promotion typically comes earlier than partnership at lockstep firms.

 

When Does Kirkland's Summer Associate Application Open?

 

Kirkland's next summer associate application opens November 1, 2026. Interviews are rolling, and offers are determined after first-semester grades are released.

 

What Is Kirkland's Open Assignment System?

 

Instead of rotations, summer associates and junior associates seek out work from lawyers in any practice. It gives you freedom to explore practice areas but requires initiative.

 

Does Kirkland Hire 1Ls?

 

Kirkland recruits 1Ls for 2L summer positions and, beginning in 2026, offers a four-week 1L summer experience for students who've committed to the firm for their 2L summer.

 

Is Kirkland a Good Firm for Litigation?

 

Yes. Kirkland started as a Chicago trial firm and still has a large litigation practice, including complex commercial, securities, product liability, and intellectual property work.

 

How Many Offices Does Kirkland & Ellis Have?

 

Kirkland describes a platform of about 4,000 lawyers in offices across the U.S., Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, including New York, Chicago, Washington, Houston, London, Hong Kong, and newer offices such as Nashville, Philadelphia, and Riyadh.

 

What Do First-Year Associates Do on Private Equity Deals?

 

First-years typically handle diligence, draft ancillary documents and disclosure schedules, manage signing and closing checklists, and help with regulatory filings.

Sources

 

• Law.com, Kirkland Reaches $10.5B in Revenue, as PEP Up by 20%
• Law.com, NYLJ 100: Profit Per Equity Partner Leaders
• Everything-PR, Wachtell Lipton 2025 profits explained (Kirkland comparison)
• Kirkland & Ellis, Summer Associate Program, Your Kirkland Experience, and Miami summer class
• LSAC, History of Big Law Recruitment Timelines
• Sartori, BigLaw Salary Scale 2026 and Cravath Scale 2026