Kirkland & Ellis to Rep More Plaintiffs, Bet on Contingency Work

Kirkland & Ellis, one of the nation’s largest and most profitable law firms, is betting on its own trial work by launching a plaintiff-side contingent fee litigation practice.

The firm has handled more than 100 plaintiff-side cases typically on a pure contingency basis over the past decade, Chicago-based trial partner Jim Hurst told Bloomberg Law.

Kirkland plans to take on as much as a tenfold increase in that number of cases. “The reality is, we do in fact have an extraordinary win record for our clients both with a special fee and a regular fee,” said Hurst, a member of ...