What Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell LLP does

Kaplan Kirsch LLP (formerly Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell LLP) is a national law firm founded in 2003 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with additional offices in New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. The firm operates exclusively in environmental, land use, real estate development, conservation, energy, infrastructure, tribal, and transportation law, organized across nine practice areas: Airports; Energy and Climate Change; Environment; Government and Public Policy; Litigation; Native American Law; Project Funding and Delivery; Rail, Transit, Highways, and Infrastructure; and Real Estate, Land Use, and Zoning. Its 56-attorney roster serves a client base dominated by government entities (airport authorities, transit agencies, state and local governments), private developers engaged in complex infrastructure projects, and environmental nonprofits, with named engagements including representation of the Chicago Transit Authority on its $2.1bn Red and Purple Line Modernization Phase One and Snohomish County on the Paine Field terminal P3.

The firm operates on a traditional professional services revenue model, billing attorney time across litigation, regulatory counsel, transactional support, and advisory mandates. Business development is partner-led and driven by Chambers and Partners rankings (Band 1 in Colorado Environment and Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use; Band 3 nationally in Projects: PPP, Native American Law, Transportation: Aviation: Regulatory, and Transportation: Rail), thought leadership output (1,355 publications), conference participation (AAAE, TRB), and reputation in highly specialized regulatory forums. In June 2024 the firm rebranded from Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell LLP to Kaplan Kirsch LLP following Managing Partner Sarah Rockwell's departure, and has since added senior federal-government lateral hires (including former USDOT Acting General Counsel Subash Iyer) and elevated three attorneys to partnership for 2026. The firm is privately held with no parent company, no external funding, and no subsidiaries.

Name

Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell LLP

Legal name

Kaplan Kirsch LLP

Website

https://kaplankirsch.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Kaplan Kirsch LLP is a national law firm with 56 attorneys across Denver, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC, providing specialized environmental, land use, transportation, infrastructure, energy, and tribal law services to government entities, transit and airport authorities, developers, and environmental nonprofits.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Denver

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Legal Services - Attorney Fees: Traditional law firm revenue model based on attorney time billing for legal services including litigation, regulatory counsel, transaction support, and advisory services to government and private clients on complex development projects.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Kaplan Kirsch LLP is a national law firm providing specialized legal services across nine core practice areas: Airports, Energy and Climate Change, Environment, Government and Public Policy, Litigation, Native American Law, Project Funding and Delivery, Rail/Transit/Highways/Infrastructure, and Real Estate/Land Use/Zoning. The firm delivers regulatory counsel, transactional support, litigation, and public-private partnership advisory services to government entities, transit authorities, airports, and private developers on complex environmental, infrastructure, and development matters. Revenue is generated through traditional attorney time billing for legal services rendered.

Product overview

Kaplan Kirsch LLP (formerly Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell LLP) operates as a national law firm providing specialized legal services across nine core practice areas. The firm offers legal counsel in Airports, Energy and Climate Change, Environment, Government and Public Policy, Litigation, Native American Law, Project Funding and Delivery, Rail/Transit/Highways/Infrastructure, and Real Estate/Land Use/Zoning. The firm's offerings are structured as distinct but interconnected legal practice areas that serve clients in the transportation, infrastructure, energy, and real estate development sectors, with particular expertise in regulatory compliance, project development, and litigation for complex public projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Airports Practice
• Energy and Climate Change Practice
• Environment Practice
• Government and Public Policy Practice
• Litigation Practice
• Native American Law Practice
• Project Funding and Delivery Practice
• Rail, Transit, Highways, and Infrastructure Practice
• Real Estate, Land Use, and Zoning Practice

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Propeller AirportscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2019The firm represented Propeller Airports in their P3 proposal for development, construction, financing, and operation of the Paine Field passenger terminal in Snohomish County, Washington. This was the first privately designed, built, financed, operated, and maintained passenger terminal in the United States.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Bracewell LLP: Bracewell maintains a nationally recognized environmental and regulatory practice and a significant infrastructure/P3 group. It is a comparable competitor on transportation, environmental, and energy transactional mandates.
• Van Ness Feldman LLP: Van Ness Feldman is a boutique focused on energy, environmental, and natural-resources law, overlapping with Kaplan Kirsch's Energy and Climate Change, Environment, and Native American Law practices. Comparable niche positioning and client base of regulated energy clients.
• Nossaman LLP: Nossaman is a mid-sized firm nationally recognized for infrastructure, P3/PPP, transportation, and environmental law, mirroring Kaplan Kirsch's core practice areas. Both firms serve transit agencies and airports on complex public-project delivery.
• Beveridge & Diamond, PC: Beveridge & Diamond is a ~130-attorney national boutique focused on environmental law, with deep regulatory expertise similar to Kaplan Kirsch's environment, energy, and climate practices. Both firms serve corporate and government clients on complex environmental and natural-resource mandates.
• Stoel Rives LLP: Stoel Rives is a Pacific Northwest/Mountain West firm with significant environment, land use, natural resources, and energy practices. It competes most directly with Kaplan Kirsch's Colorado-based environmental, land use, and energy matters.

Broad incumbents

• Holland & Knight LLP: Holland & Knight is a major national full-service firm with substantial environmental, transportation, real estate, and P3 practices. It often competes for the same transit, airport, and environmental matters as Kaplan Kirsch but offers broader cross-disciplinary coverage.
• Perkins Coie LLP: Perkins Coie is a national full-service firm with industry-recognized environmental, energy, real estate development, and Native American law practices. It is a broad incumbent comparator for the same government, tribal, and infrastructure matters.
• Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP: Faegre Drinker is a national full-service firm with notable environmental, energy, infrastructure, and real estate practices. Comparable competitor especially on cross-state environmental and infrastructure mandates.

Regional players

• Hanson Bridgett LLP: Hanson Bridgett is a California-based firm with deep environment, land use, water, and Native American law practices that overlap with Kaplan Kirsch's San Francisco office capabilities. Closest direct geographic competitor on California Native American and environmental mandates.
• Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP: Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck is a major Denver-based firm with strong government, environmental, energy, and real estate practices. It is the most direct Colorado-headquartered competitor for Kaplan Kirsch's core environment, land use, and government matters.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/KaplanKirsch

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell LLP