Kirkland & Ellis

K&E largely credits this growth to its market-leading M&A practice, which handled nearly $730 billion worth of deals this year. Among its recent headline-grabbers was advising on the roughly $55 billion buyout of video game giant Electronic Arts (maker of The Sims and Battlefield), one of the biggest deals of its kind ever. It also guided financial software firm Clearwater Analytics through an $8.4 billion takeover. Further growth came from new Philadelphia and Nashville offices, plus a significant expansion of its funds practice in the US and London.

Kirkland is flexing its financial firepower in the AI arms race too, setting aside a cool $500 million (£370 million) to build its own proprietary AI platform, one of the most ambitious tech bets BigLaw has ever made. Firm chair Jon Ballis reckons that while off-the-shelf AI tools are raising standards across the profession, they don’t quite cut it for Kirkland’s blue-chip clients, hence the drive to build something bespoke rooted in the firm’s own “collective intelligence”. With revenues north of $10 billion, the firm has the scale, in Ballis’s words, to “take big swings”.

In London, Kirkland has weathered some serious turbulence over the past few years. Top talent has been departing for the likes of Sullivan & Cromwell, Paul Weiss and Weil, even as K&E poaches its own new stars from Clifford Chance, Linklaters and plenty more.

The good news is that retention has held steady at NQ level, with the firm posting impressive trainee retention rates in recent years. The market-leading NQ salary of $225,000 (roughly £175k on the firm’s internal conversion rate) certainly gives rookies a reason to stay, while trainees start on £60,000, rising to £65,000 in their second year.

The lucrative pay comes paired with high-quality work in this private equity-focused office, where you can expect to be handed “a lot of responsibility from the outset”. The “very hands-on training” is highly rated, with a focus on “learning by doing and developing in live deal situations”, according to one source. Perfect for the self-starters Kirkland tends to attract. As another insider puts it: “If you’re willing to involve yourself and take on responsibility then it’s perfect because you can learn a large amount in a short period of time by choosing to put yourself in situations where you need to know the answer in a very real and practical sense. That said, you won’t be put out of your depth and there’s always someone else on the deal who will be more than happy to discuss any questions!”

A further rookie reports that the “ton of hands-on experience, particularly given the number of hours you are expected to work” easily makes up for the lack of “formal classroom training”. Not that there’s no formal training at all: one helpful trainee flags the formalised “sessions”, “boot camps” and various “learning platforms” they’ve been exposed to. We’re also told that “if you’re aggressive and willing to get involved and to take transactions by the horns, there is ample opportunity to learn and develop”.

The US giant’s lean teams reportedly serve up “incredibly complex and engaging work”. The general rule seems to be that “trainees are offered as much responsibility and exposure as they would like and can handle”. On top of that, “trainees are able to take ownership of more stimulating elements of transactions at a very early stage, and are actively encouraged to be vocal about the kinds of projects and tasks which we feel would be beneficial to our development as lawyers”. That includes an emphasis on “practising drafting skills and client exposure” from day one, nudging trainees towards the more “difficult/technical work” with greater confidence.

Be warned, though, the quality of work can vary between departments. The firm’s “private equity and debt finance work is the most interesting and complex in the market bar none,” one rookie trumpets. “Bread and butter transactional departments perhaps not so much for juniors.” Another junior offers this: “As a junior, while I am still expected to do most of the trainee level work on my deals (given the very limited number of trainees at the firm and no paralegals in my team), I am also given lots of work well above my level and people are keen to make sure you understand what’s going on so you can contribute as much as possible. I feel like an integral part of my team and am given a leading role on key work-streams so I can take ownership. It is a pretty energetic place to work.”

You’ll also be working under some of the top lawyers in their fields and, contrary to popular belief, the partners are reportedly a friendly bunch. “The partners are great and really approachable both in a general social sense and in terms of professional development,” one source explains. “We’re all part of the same team and everyone goes to socials together, chats around the office, etc. which makes for a good working environment, but the big thing I’ve noticed is that (very busy) seniors will also take time to invest in your development and answer your technical questions if you take the initiative to approach them.”

Still, the go-getter type is essential to thriving here, in a firm that Legal Cheek is told runs as a fiercely competitive meritocracy. “Don’t expect much interaction if you aren’t engaging and bold,” explains one insider. Another notes that anything under 2,000 to 2,500 billable hours a year counts as being under capacity, and that anything less than 50 hours a week for a client could see you pulled into corporate M&A deals, whatever seat you happen to be sitting in.

Of course, Kirkland didn’t get where it is with everyone clocking off at 6pm. According to our figures, the firm has some of the longest working hours in the country, with trainees and junior lawyers averaging close to 12 hours in the office each day. On work/life balance, one rookie tells us: “Balance? Sorry mate, never heard of him.” Another offers a more measured take: “The firm gives you a great degree of freedom as to how much work you take on and how you do it, and in that respect it’s really quite flexible in terms of working balance. The result of that is that if you choose to be on a large number of active deals then you’re going to be very busy, but you’re busy on your own terms and you’re getting the value from those projects that you put in. Hours are, of course, not exactly 9 to 5, but it’s certainly not dissimilar to any other serious private equity or finance outfit in the City, and the upside is that you’re doing higher quality work from an earlier stage of your career.”

For all that, trainees seem content with this pact of top pay, more independence and high-quality work. “The firm is open about the fact that it requires applicants to have a greater appetite for responsibility than elsewhere, and taking on more responsibility requires a greater time commitment,” one notes, adding that “partners and associates are very good at respecting weekends/annual leave and will only disturb either if absolutely necessary”.

Agile working hasn’t made quite the impact it has at other firms, and as with other US outfits in the City, trainees are expected in the office four days a week. It helps that trainee cohorts are “close and really supportive”. With a healthy dose of camaraderie, rookies are known to have “honest discussions about where we are at with our personal and professional lives”, all while sidestepping the competitive tension or backstabbing sometimes found elsewhere in the City. “We all want each other to do well,” says one besotted trainee.

In late 2025, the firm finally upped sticks from the iconic Gherkin to its new home round the corner at 40 Leadenhall Street. Kirkland is the primary tenant across more than half of the building, which the City’s press has dubbed ‘Gotham City’. Those filling its floors can now enjoy the lavish upsides of their new digs, with the offices boasting a sauna, a hair salon and a whopping 10,000-book library. Better still, many of Kirkland’s signature perks have survived the move. There are fairly regular firm bashes where “literally no expense is spared as a reward for how hard everyone works”, and the lunches after closing a big deal “can be huge”. On a more practical, day-to-day level, free breakfast, lunch and dinner in the office land as “a huge perk”.