A major law firm has released what could be one of the most complete pictures of a U.S. legal firm's financial performance, a step that it says is a move toward greater transparency in a profession where financial results are often opaque, the Wall Street Journal reported today. K&L Gates LLP posted its 2012 and 2011 results on its website yesterday in an unusually detailed accounting that included information on the firm's bank debt (none), its retirement-plan obligations (0.3 percent of revenue) and a breakdown of firm revenues by region. The firm, which has roots in Pittsburgh but has grown to more than 2,000 lawyers worldwide through a series of mergers, reported revenue of $1.06 billion, a slight decline from 2011. In 2012, K&L Gates netted $320.5 million in profit and had a profit per partner of $899,960 for the firm's roughly 250 full equity partners, according to the results.
