Measured by headcount, K&L Gates was the 12th largest law firm in the United States in 2018.[4][5] The firm delivers legal services at both an individual office level and through nine broad firmwide practice areas: Corporate and Transactional; Energy, Infrastructure and Resources; Finance; Financial Services; Intellectual Property; Labor, Employment and Workplace Safety; Litigation and Dispute Resolution; Real Estate; and Regulatory and Policy, each of which also include a number of subject matter and industry-based practice groups.[6]
As of March 2017[update], the leaders of K&L Gates are James Segerdahl (global managing partner) and Michael Caccese (chairman, management committee).[7]
1946: Pittsburgh-based Kirkpatrick, Pomeroy, Lockhart & Johnson is founded[9]
2005: Kirkpatrick & Lockhart and Nicholson Graham & Jones (founded 1858)[citation needed] merge to become Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham[10]
2007: On January 1, K&L Gates is formed in a merger between Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham and Preston Gates & Ellis to form Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis.[11] The name was later shortened to K&L Gates.
2008: In January, K&L Gates combined with Hughes & Luce, a Dallas-based firm of 150 attorneys with offices in Austin, Dallas, and Fort Worth
March 1, 2009: K&L Gates merged with Bell, Boyd & Lloyd, a Chicago-based firm with approximately 215 attorneys with offices in Chicago, San Diego and Washington, D.C.
2013: K&L Gates combined with Australian national firm Middletons with offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, and Brisbane[13]
Ratings and rankings
U.S. News has given the firm "Tier 1" national ratings in 42 different practice areas, placing it in the top 3 law firms with the most Tier 1 rankings.[14][15] The firm garnered 129 first-tier ratings at the regional/city level across 59 practice groups.[16] Chambers has given the firm a tier 1 national ranking for its Shipping & Maritime Transportation practice, as well as regional tier 1 rankings in: Corporate/Commercial (WA), Environmental (NJ), Bankruptcy and Healthcare (NC), Insurance, Litigation and Corporate (PA).[17]
As of 2024, K&L Gates is ranked #49 in the Top 100 "most prestigious law firms in the country based on the assessments of lawyers at peer firms" by Vault.com.[18]
For three consecutive years (2017–2019) U.S. News has ranked K&L Gates as the top law firm in the U.S. for environmental litigation ("Law Firm of the Year - Environmental Litigation").[19][16] The firm has been named among the "Pacific Northwest Elite" by the website Above the Law, which noted the firm as the "Best Firm for Lobbying Congress in Your Favor".[20]
The firm ranks #41 in the American Lawyer "Global 200" rankings, which ranks firms worldwide by revenue.[4] The legal news site Above the Law ranked the firm number 71 in its 2018 "Power 100" law firm rankings.[21] The Financial Times labeled K&L among the "Most innovative North American law firms 2015: Compliance & technology".[22]
K&L Gates received a 100% rating in the 2018 Corporate Equality Index compiled by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, an LGBT advocacy group.[23] In 2016 the Yale Law Women organization included K&L Gates in the top ten family-friendly law firms.[24] Vault.com has described the firm's “great work-life balance” and "pleasant culture" while also noting a "lack of transparency" at the firm.[25]
Projects
In 2012 K&L Gates represented Carnegie Mellon University in a patent suit resulting in a jury verdict awarding $1.17B to the university, one of the largest such verdicts at the time.[26]
In September 2014, K&L Gates founded the "Cyber Civil Rights Legal Project". The project initially involves about fifty K&L lawyers working pro bono to assist about 100 victims of "revenge porn". According to the New York Times, the project is believed to be first of its kind at a major United States law firm.[27] By 2016, the project has aided hundreds of victims and has led to a handful of arrests.[28] In April 2017 the project secured an $8.9 million jury award for a King County couple, reportedly the largest award for non-celebrity targets of "revenge porn" to date.[29][30]
In 2016, K&L Gates awarded a $10 million grant to Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) to establish the "K&L Gates Endowment for Ethics and Computational Technologies". This new research center is to explore the ethics of artificial intelligence and establish a biennial conference. The firm has provided legal services to CMU for decades; K&L Gates Chairman Emeritus Charles J. Queenan Jr. once chaired CMU's Board of Trustees.[31][32]
In 2017, K&L Gates announced it would create its own blockchain.[33]
Political contributions
According to OpenSecrets, K&L Gates was one of the law firms contributing the most to federal candidates during the 2012 election cycle, donating $1.09 million, with 52% going to Democratic candidates.[34][35] By comparison, during that same period Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld donated $2.56 million (66% going to Democrats),[34] while oil conglomerate ExxonMobil donated $2.66 million (88% to Republicans).[36] Since the 1990 election cycle, K&L Gates contributed nearly $12.9 million to federal campaigns, and spent $1.25 million on lobbying since 1999.[37]
Lawsuits
K&L Gates has faced several lawsuits from former clients, including accusations of breaching fiduciary duties,[38] overbilling,[39] and malpractice.[40]
In January 2020, a worker with anxiety and ADHD sued K&L Gates for disability bias and retaliation after seeking a work-from-home accommodation;[41][42] the suit was later settled out of court.[43] In November 2020, former partner Willie E. Dennis sued the firm alleging that his May 2019 termination was "for complaining about discrimination against Black attorneys and for opposing the sexual harassment of female employees."[44]
Notable lawyers and alumni
The following attorneys were affiliated with K&L Gates and its immediate predecessor firms, including, e.g., Preston Gates & Ellis; Nicholson Graham & Jones; Kennedy Covington; Hughes & Luce; Bell, Boyd & Lloyd; and Middletons:
Betty Binns Fletcher, United States Circuit Judge of the San Francisco-based United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit between 1979 and 2012. First woman partner of Preston Gates & Ellis (which merged to become K&L Gates).[46]
Ignasi Guardans, former Spanish and European Member of Parliament
William H. Gates Sr, attorney and philanthropist. One of the founders of Preston Gates & Ellis[63] (which merged to become K&L Gates). He was the father of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
Thomas W. Pomeroy Jr, a founding partner of original Kirkpatrick, Pomeroy, Lockhart & Johnson firm in 1946; served as Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice from 1968-78
Lloyd Meeds, former U.S. Representative for Washington’s 2nd Congressional district from 1965 to 1979 and partner in the law firm of Preston Gates Ellis, & Rouvelas Meeds, the D.C. office of Seattle-based Preston Gates & Ellis[64]
