Accolades

Recognized Among Top Law Firm Brands

For a tenth consecutive year, K&L Gates was recognized among the top 20 strongest U.S. law firm brands in legal market research company Acritas’ U.S. Law Firm Brand Index 2021.

Ranked Among Most Innovative Law Firms

Legal workflow software company Litera named K&L Gates “Law Firm of the Year” during The 2020 Changing Lawyer Awards. The awards honor those in the legal industry for their willingness to embrace and drive change - through new technology, service models, or behavior - with the “Law Firm of the Year” award recognizing the firm that has most successfully reimagined the way they serve their clients.

K&L Gates was one of 15 Australian firms named to the Australasian Lawyer’s 2020 Innovative Law Firms list, recognizing firms at the forefront of innovation. K&L Gates was noted for its use of visual communication, client portals, and artificial intelligence, among other areas.

Recognized Among America’s Top Corporate Law Firms

Forbes recognized K&L Gates among America’s Top Corporate Law Firms for 2019 and as one of the most recommended firms in the area of litigation and dispute resolution as part of the magazine’s first-ever legal industry review. The firm was also recognized as “Law Firm of the Year” in the area of Corporate Law in the Best Law Firms^® 2022 and 2024 editions, as well as Commercial Litigation "Law Firm of the Year” in the 2023 edition. 

Recognized for Superior Client Service

The BTI Consulting Group (BTI) has recognized K&L Gates for “superior client service, demonstrating a culture driven by client focus, and understanding clients’ business,” according to BTI Consulting Group’s 2022 Most Recommended Law Firms report.

• Recognized by general counsel as one of the top law firms for superior client service. The firm has made 22 straight appearances on the BTI Client Service A-Team survey, an annual report based on in-depth interviews with legal decision makers at the world’s leading organizations.

Internationally Ranked Among Top Law Firms

K&L Gates was again among the top ten firms - out of more than 15,000 ranked - for most overall first-tier rankings in the 2024 edition of Best Law Firms^®. K&L Gates’ full rankings include 40 national first-tier rankings and 143 first-tier marks across 22 state and metropolitan areas in nearly 80 different practice categories. To read our full list of 2024 rankings, click here.

The firm has been recognized in the 2024 edition of Best Law Firms^® as “Law Firm of the Year” in the area of Corporate Law, as well as Commercial Litigation in 2023 and Corporate Law in 2022.

Recognized as IP Litigation Powerhouse

BTI Consulting Group’s Litigation Outlook 2024 report names K&L Gates as one of only four “IP Litigation Powerhouses,” the topmost ranking in each category, and as a Litigation Leader among the “19 Best of the Best Law Firms in Cybersecurity/Data Privacy Litigation."

Mansfield Rule 6.0

We are among the leading law firms to have achieved Mansfield Rule certification in Diversity Lab’s latest round of its program. The certification recognizes firms that “have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and are making meaningful progress on diversifying law firm leadership.”

The goal of the Mansfield Rule is to boost the representation of historically underrepresented lawyers, including women, racial/ethnic minority, LGBTQ+, and disabled lawyers, in law firm leadership, promotion, and senior lateral positions by broadening the pool of candidates considered for these opportunities.

Awarded Top Score in the 2023-24 Corporate Equality Index

For the 13th consecutive year, the Human Rights Campaign awarded our firm its top score of 100 in the organization’s Corporate Equality Index, naming it a “Leader in LGBTQ+ Workplace Inclusion.”

Recognized as a Top Performer

 
We have been recognized with both the 2023 Top Performer and Compass Award designations from the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD). These distinctions recognize organizations and law firms with the highest level of engagement with LCLD, signaling a commitment to building more diverse organizations and a more inclusive legal profession.

Awarded Gold Standard Certification by the Women in Law Empowerment Forum

Our global law firm has been awarded a United States Gold Standard Certification by the Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF) for the eleventh time, recognizing the high levels of success by the firm’s women as partners and leaders.

Recognized as a “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion”

Our global law firm has been named one of the “Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion” in the 2024 Disability Equality Index (DEI) by Disability IN. We are one of only nine law firms to achieve this distinction. 

Microsoft’s Law Firm Diversity Program

We were honored as a top achiever in advancing diversity within the legal profession by Microsoft’s Law Firm Diversity Program, tying for first place for our work in increasing diversity across three key areas: the firm’s overall partnership and leadership, among Microsoft’s relationship partners, and on Microsoft’s client matters.

Chevron’s Law Firm Diversity Awards Program

We were recognized by longtime client Chevron U.S.A. for our commitment to inclusion and diversity at Chevron’s annual law firm diversity awards program. The award recognized Chevron law firm partners that have distinguished themselves through their commitment to diversity in the legal industry and by fostering an inclusive work environment.

Lockheed Martin Corporation’s Diversity Awards Program

We were recognized by Lockheed Martin Corporation for our excellence in diversity and inclusion. The honor was based on the strength and diversity of the client’s outside legal teams, including the percentage of minority and female timekeepers working on the client’s matters. This was the first time an outside law firm had been recognized for excellence in the area of diversity and inclusion.

The firm delivers pro bono services in cooperation with dozens of organizations and legal services programs, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Cancer Council of Australia, Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy, Chicago Volunteer Legal Services, Children’s Law Center, Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking, Consumer Action Law Centre, Global Pro Bono Bar Association, Habitat for Humanity, Her Justice, International Justice Mission, International Senior Lawyers Project, Kaleidoscope Human Rights Foundation, Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), Justice Connect, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Lawyers for the Creative Arts, National Immigrant Justice Center, National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project (NIWAP) Inc., Neighborhood Legal Services Association, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Northwest Justice Project, Public Counsel, Refugee Legal, St. John’s Legal Centre, Tahirih Justice Center, and numerous local referral sources and bar associations.

The firm has recorded over 48,000 hours on approved pro bono matters in the last year. We litigate civil rights cases, establish and advise nonprofit organizations, assist such organizations in transactions, and represent indigent persons in consumer, landlord-tenant, and immigration matters. In addition to providing legal assistance directly to individuals who have limited means but substantial civil legal needs, we provide legal counsel and public policy advocacy to help organizations advance their public-service programs, work to advance the rule of law around the world, and accept court appointments to provide pro bono counsel. Each year, the firm highlights a selection of recent pro bono work and awards in For the Good of All. The firm received recognition for our anti-human trafficking initiative, drawing on the strength of nearly 2,000 lawyers in more than 45 offices.

Awards

Although the goal of our pro bono efforts is to help those in need, we are proud when our lawyers and our initiatives are recognized. Some select awards include the following: 

• We received the 2023 TrustLaw Impact Award for our work on a pre-trial detention project for the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. As part of this project, we collaborated with local counsel or conducted desk-based research addressing the legal policy framework of pre-trial detention in 46 of the then-54 Commonwealth countries.  
• We received the Advancement in Animal Law Pro Bono Achievement Award from the Animal Legal Defense Fund. 
• The Pro Bono Institute awarded its 2020 Corporate Pro Bono Partner Award to our firm and Amazon for joint contributions in support of Mary’s Place, an organization providing shelter and services to women, children, and families in their journey out of homelessness.
• The New Jersey State Bar Association recognized partner Charles Rysavy as the Pro Bono Attorney of the Year (Individual) for his pro bono service to refugee children. Described as “the quintessential attorney-servant, motivated by the determination to pursue justice for the voiceless,” Rysavy has performed more than 2,100 hours of pro bono work during his career.