There is a change sweeping through some of the world’s biggest law firms and parts of wider industry, referred to as the ‘Kirklandization’. A term born from the practices adopted by Kirkland & Ellis, one of the world’s most powerful Biglaw firms. The transformation entails an expansion of nonequity partnership tiers, a model that has seen Kirkland & Ellis boost its firm’s profits significantly. As previously reported by Matthew Bersani, a legal recruiter with the Cliff Group, it’s clear this is the “continuation of a trend, which is not ending in the near future.”
The central gimmick of this shift lies in the utilization of nonequity partners, essentially a modern version of a labor force that significantly contributes to the profit margins of a firm. More intriguingly, it appears that half of the partners at Kirkland & Ellis operates within this nonequity tier. This gives the firm a logistical and financial advantage, leveraging the work of these partners to bring in more profit, creating a successful business model that other firms are now replicating.
The nonequity structure is relatively new in the world of Biglaw. But what was once looked down upon has now become a popular strategy within traditional firms who are coming around to this strategy. As aptly put by Bersani, “the whole industry is going in that direction.”
This modernization technique, namely the ‘Kirklandization’, signifies a reshaping of the legal industry, driving new ways of working, and simultaneously causing shifts in traditional power structures. This trend is all set to redefine the rules of Biglaw, making nonequity partnership an increasingly standard progression route in law firms across the globe.
For the full report and comments, visit Above The Law’s article here.