Kirkland & Ellis, the world’s highest-grossing law firm, recently appointed its first-ever chief operating officer, Gary Levin, marking a significant shift toward the broader Big Law trend of hiring business executives to manage firm operations.

Despite geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty, global M&A activity surged in the first half of 2025, with total deal value rising 33% year-over-year to $1.98 trillion—the strongest first-half showing since 2022.

Kirkland & Ellis is a global elite law firm with over 3,500 lawyers, known for its strength in corporate, litigation, M&A, private equity, intellectual property, and restructuring.

The rise of the non-equity (or salaried) partner tier—spearheaded by firms like Kirkland & Ellis—has fundamentally reshaped the legal market, turning what was once seen as a “gaming the system” tactic into the dominant partnership model.

In the first half of 2025, Kirkland & Ellis has added about 100 litigators, signaling a broader trend among top law firms investing heavily in products liability and mass torts litigation.

In fiscal year 2024, Los Angeles saw the fastest attorney headcount growth among major U.S. legal markets, with NLJ 500 firms increasing their local lawyer population by 6%—outpacing New York, D.C., and Chicago.

In the post-pandemic legal hiring landscape, law firms have increasingly turned to predictive Al tools to evaluate candidates for 2L summer associate roles.