It can be hard to understand how Kirkland & Ellis got so big. Now twice the size of most its largest rivals, with revenues of more than $7 billion, the world’s biggest law firm has defied law firm strategists with its relatively narrow practice and office mix.
As this video explains, the firm has benefitted from cornering a highly lucrative private capital market that throws off various types of work and isn’t too concerned about conflicts. It tapped into the right market at the right time.
Any firms hoping to replicate that kind of success would do well to find their own highly lucrative market that is set for a strong period of growth over the coming years.
One option here is class actions. They are nothing new, but several recent developments have played to their advantage and are causing such litigation to gain traction across the world.
A notable win for the litigation funding community, which essentially supports the class action industry, came last year when a New York court ruled the Argentine government should pay $16.1 billion to Burford Capital-backed plaintiffs, meaning the litigation funder is in line for a payout of up to $6.2 billion. Yes, you read that figure right—almost the entire annual revenue of Kirkland from one case. The case is being appealed and any payout may end up being far smaller, but even a fraction of that would still be sizeable.
Outside the U.S., Burford is seen as a bit of an outlier and not necessarily reflective of the global litigation funding market. But as a marketing exercise, such an substantial payout is significant and it could certainly turn the heads of investors in the future. Even without any payout from that case, Burford’s consolidated revenues tripled to $1.1 billion in 2023.
Collective actions have also been given an important boost in several other parts of the world, starting with the U.K....
