What's the Deal with Kirkland NYC? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hello all. Not a frequent poster, but am looking for a little help with deciding where to accept for the summer 2013.

I am currently weighing offers from Weil, Simpson, and Kirkland all in New York. I am most interested in corporate transactional work based on prior work experience, somewhat interested in restructuring, but would also like to try out litigation before committing myself.

Based on my research on AmLaw and Chambers, Weil or Simpson seem to be the way to go, however, throughout the whole interview process, from screeners to callbacks, my experience with Kirkland has been nothing short of incredible. All the partners I met were so young, enthusiastic, and seemed genuinely excited about what's going on there. I was simply shocked at how humble and down to earth the people were. Kirkland is the only firm in my interviewing experience where I found great, seemingly genuine people across the board. All around, everyone was very upfront about how tough the hours are, but also very honest about the type of firm they are building and hope to maintain. It was the only non-pollyannic presentation of a firm that I've received through the whole OCI process.

Before going into OCI, I didn't even think I'd consider Kirkland, but a family friend who's an M&A partner at a large international firm told me that Kirkland NY is "on the up and up," and I should put them at the top of my list. After receiving offers, this same attorney has told me he thinks Kirkland is a no brainer over those firms based on a number of reasons (don't feel like going in to them, but some were convincing). While I respect his opinion, I have a hard time accepting this as a no brainer. Going off of my experience interviewing, Kirkland would be it; going off of his word, Kirkland would be it; but going off of AmLaw/Chambers, it doesn't seem to be so easy. Are there any associates or past summers out there that can shed a little light on this more as to the direction of the firm/attitudes around the office? Any other interviewees have any experiences they could share, positive and negative? While I appreciate all that take the time to offer feedback, I'm not interested in any unsubstantiated rumors.

All seem like great places to be as far as law firms go, but I would like to be as informed as possible and consider as much information as I can get my hands on before making what is a very important decision to me.

Thanks guys!

[IAFG]

MARKET-SHATTERING BONUSES

/thread

[bravos89]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=189070

[Bronte]

I think you can safely go with "feel" in between these firms. If you were dead set on a particular practice area, it might be a bit different, but it doesn't seem like you are.

[Bronte]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=189070

The only thing that's relevant about this link is the similarity of the title...

[Anonymous User]

A good friend of mine was a summer this year and said he really enjoyed the people. He was super proud to be at Kirkland and would agree that it's "on the up and up." However, by far the thing he talked about most this summer was how awful his assignments were. I'm sure big cases/deals pull summers away from more desirable assignments at every firm, but he seemed really concerned that he wouldn't even get a small assignment in his preferred practice area. You should ask more transactional/restructuring associates how they got their initial experience. If you think you already know the answer from your callback I would definitely ask again. My friend was shocked at how good some people were at being fake/embellishing the truth about their satisfaction with work.

[Anonymous User]

A good friend of mine was a summer this year and said he really enjoyed the people. He was super proud to be at Kirkland and would agree that it's "on the up and up." However, by far the thing he talked about most this summer was how awful his assignments were. I'm sure big cases/deals pull summers away from more desirable assignments at every firm, but he seemed really concerned that he wouldn't even get a small assignment in his preferred practice area. You should ask more transactional/restructuring associates how they got their initial experience. If you think you already know the answer from your callback I would definitely ask again. My friend was shocked at how good some people were at being fake/embellishing the truth about their satisfaction with work.

would you mind sharing some more about his preferred practice area? I'm interested in transactional, especially M&A, and want to know if I should be wary of the same thing, or if he was trying to do something totally different like IP lit or tax.

OP, for what it's worth, I'm in the same position. Totally drank the Kirkland Kool-Aid, and thinking strongly about picking it over DPW, despite the rankings...