Kirkland & Ellis LLP vs. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
Side-by-side on the metrics that actually drive the student's call. Sources: Vault 2027, AmLaw 200 FY2025, and reported Chambers records from the years shown.
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Est. 1909
Kirkland & Ellis LLP is a 2,000-plus-attorney global firm, Vault #6 / AmLaw #1. Jurisdiction-specific Chambers rankings include Band 1 in Antitrust, Asset Management M&A, and Banking & Finance. Operates from 23 offices worldwide.
Est. 1849
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is a 1,000-plus-attorney firm, Vault #7 / AmLaw #14. Jurisdiction-specific Chambers rankings include Band 1 in Antitrust, Banking & Finance, and Bankruptcy/Restructuring.
- Vault rank
- #6
- AmLaw rank
- #1
- Reported Chambers Band 1 records
- 65 records
- Vault rank
- #7
- AmLaw rank
- #14
- Reported Chambers Band 1 records
- 29 records
- First-year comp
- $225,000+
- Profits per partner
- $11.12M
- Firm revenue
- $10.56B
- Revenue per lawyer
- $2.55M
- First-year comp
- $225,000+
- Profits per partner
- $9.80M
- Firm revenue
- $3.20B
- Revenue per lawyer
- $2.59M
- Billable target
- -
- Partnership track
- 6 years
- US associates per partner
- 1.2:1
- Firm size (rounded to 50)
- ~4,150
- Offices
- 23
- Billable target
- -
- Partnership track
- -
- US associates per partner
- 4.3:1
- Firm size (rounded to 50)
- ~1,250
- Offices
- 7
- Offer rate
- -
- Class size
- -
- How associates get work
- Free market
- Specific practice area
- Yes
- Offer rate
- -
- Class size
- 220 (year not confirmed)
- How associates get work
- Centralized staffing
- Specific practice area
- No
Shared results are listed once. Green marks only a lower reported Chambers band for the same exact practice, market and year. Records with a missing year or market are not compared. Historical records are retained; individual ranking verification status is not available.
Shared rankings
Rank differences
Firm-only and additional rankings remain available on each firm profile so missing coverage is not mistaken for a head-to-head loss.
Data sources: Vault 2027, AmLaw 200 FY2025, and reported Chambers records from the years shown. Chambers record counts can span years and reporting coverage varies; missing years or markets are not compared. Current Chambers bands were checked against each firm’s Chambers profile on Sep 26, 2026; where Chambers splits a table, every Elite firm ranks above every Highly Regarded firm. Missing values shown as “-”.
More head-to-head comparisons
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- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz vs. Kirkland & Ellis
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz vs. Davis Polk & Wardwell
- Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom vs. Kirkland & Ellis
- Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom vs. Davis Polk & Wardwell
- Latham & Watkins vs. Kirkland & Ellis
- Latham & Watkins vs. Davis Polk & Wardwell
- Sullivan & Cromwell vs. Kirkland & Ellis
- Sullivan & Cromwell vs. Davis Polk & Wardwell
- Kirkland & Ellis vs. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
- Kirkland & Ellis vs. Milbank
Firm data comes from each firm’s own publications, Chambers USA and Vault; see Kirkland & Ellis and Davis Polk & Wardwell for sources and dates.