Never Forget: Latham laid off hundreds in 2009 Forum

[Anonymous User]

https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/2018 ... y-partner/

Latest #s say KE is 3rd in PPP.

Why would BK only be slight hedge? One of my big factors for picking KE is being able to BK work as a junior if shit goes downhill so am curious for an explanation on that statement.

Bankruptcy is not a hedge in the sense that the firm will remain profitable enough to pull the weight for the entire corporate group. It's a hedge in that whichever corporate associates that do not have any work can pick up some bankruptcy work in the meantime.

[Anonymous User]

I don’t think people are really “hating” on Kirkland. People are just pointing out how the firm has expanded in recent years (the leverage at their Houston and Boston offices is probably higher than the reported 4.14 average).

There are plenty of firms with higher leverage than Kirkland, but those firms have historically had high leverage. If you go back a decade, I believe Kirkland was actually low leverage. The rate of growth is what could be concerning if a recession were to hit.

However, as other posters have mentioned, anyone should be happy to get the opportunity to work at Kirkland.

[Anonymous User]

https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/2018 ... y-partner/

Latest #s say KE is 3rd in PPP.

Why would BK only be slight hedge? One of my big factors for picking KE is being able to BK work as a junior if shit goes downhill so am curious for an explanation on that statement.

Bankruptcy is not a hedge in the sense that the firm will remain profitable enough to pull the weight for the entire corporate group. It's a hedge in that whichever corporate associates that do not have any work can pick up some bankruptcy work in the meantime.

Seriously curious here - as an incoming restructuring SA at Kirkland, am I recession proof?

[Anonymous User]

https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/2018 ... y-partner/

Latest #s say KE is 3rd in PPP.

Why would BK only be slight hedge? One of my big factors for picking KE is being able to BK work as a junior if shit goes downhill so am curious for an explanation on that statement.

Bankruptcy is not a hedge in the sense that the firm will remain profitable enough to pull the weight for the entire corporate group. It's a hedge in that whichever corporate associates that do not have any work can pick up some bankruptcy work in the meantime.

Seriously curious here - as an incoming restructuring SA at Kirkland, am I recession proof?

Nobody is recession proof, but you are probably about as safe as one can be in Biglaw.

[Anonymous User]

Seriously curious here - as an incoming restructuring SA at Kirkland, am I recession proof?

I don't think anyone questions that BK @ KE is recession proof. They're killing it in a good economy. You might literally die from work if everything goes to shit, but I don't think you'd need to worry about job security.

[Anonymous User]

Double post.

[Anonymous User]

What are some of the more recession-proof specific practice areas, across the broad spectrum? Off the top of my head based purely on intuition, I would say: BK, restructuring, commercial lit, white collar.

But I note that I actually have no real idea. Curious about others’ thoughts.

[Anonymous User]

What are some of the more recession-proof specific practice areas, across the broad spectrum? Off the top of my head based purely on intuition, I would say: BK, restructuring, commercial lit, white collar.

But I note that I actually have no real idea. Curious about others’ thoughts.

PE--especially mega funds w/credibility to raise $ even in downturns--buys low and sells high. Credit will probably still dry up to a certain degree, but PE M&A probably won't be as bad as strategic. TX finance partners have told me that they stayed busy since people want to refinance/renegotiate credit during 2015-2016.

[Anonymous User]

What are some of the more recession-proof specific practice areas, across the broad spectrum? Off the top of my head based purely on intuition, I would say: BK, restructuring, commercial lit, white collar.

But I note that I actually have no real idea. Curious about others’ thoughts.

Lit demand usually falls during a crash (except BK lit).

[Anonymous User]

Gonna re-up this thread again, given that it seems even more likely that there'll be a recession in the next year. DC firms seemed to be reducing their summer classes this year in anticipation of the same, so hopefully they'll be avoiding layoffs in any major way.

[Wild Card]

Comprehensive list, out of fairness:

https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/almI ... 0731232307

[Anonymous User]

https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/2018 ... y-partner/

Latest #s say KE is 3rd in PPP.

Why would BK only be slight hedge? One of my big factors for picking KE is being able to BK work as a junior if shit goes downhill so am curious for an explanation on that statement.

Bankruptcy is not a hedge in the sense that the firm will remain profitable enough to pull the weight for the entire corporate group. It's a hedge in that whichever corporate associates that do not have any work can pick up some bankruptcy work in the meantime.

Seriously curious here - as an incoming restructuring SA at Kirkland, am I recession proof?

Generally yes, although KE’s recent BK overhiring is a separate issue.

[Anonymous User]

A lot of articles have been archived, so this has been difficult to find: Does anyone know anecdotally or have a list of firms that did not screw people over during the last recession? Super curious to hear who the “good” apples were.

[Anonymous User]

A lot of articles have been archived, so this has been difficult to find: Does anyone know anecdotally or have a list of firms that did not screw people over during the last recession? Super curious to hear who the “good” apples were.

Just use the link two floors above and search for the titles. They are under different URLs but you can still find them.

[Anonymous User]

Just cross reference the list Wild Card posted with Vault. For example, Wachtell, S&C, DPW, Gibson, and Cleary are not on that list at a glance. Probably not 100% accurate, but you aren't likely to find anything better.

[Anonymous User]

I remembered having read this thread a long time ago and thought to bring it back now to see whether any other V10/V20 associates may have on the ground insight into what's going on at their firms.

I'm at Kirkland and I remembered there was much discussion ITT of what might come to K&E when the economy took a turn. Well - here we are. Fortunately, the BK/restructuring hedge seems to be holding up well. Maybe too well, in fact: https://abovethelaw.com/2020/05/partner ... ne-at-all/

There's no rumblings of salary cuts - but those seem to be slowly creeping up the Vault list. I'm also unaware of stealth layoffs (though I am a litigator, and lack much visibility into transactional practice groups). Litigation is still quite busy, and we are simultaneously being yanked onto restructuring matters. I would estimate hours are about equal to Jan/Feb before all of this started.

The firm could be doing a better job communicating with associates about what it's seeing, how we're performing each month, future market projections etc. and we're kind of flying blind there. Are any firms sharing that kind of info with associates in these uncertain times? Otherwise so far so good (relatively speaking).

[Anonymous User]

Are any firms sharing that kind of info with associates in these uncertain times? Otherwise so far so good (relatively speaking).

My firm is doing okay so far (everyone I know is busy, etc.) but has not been very transparent at all in firm-wide communications. Just rah-rah stuff about pulling through and keeping things going.

I think it'd be a competitive mistake to divulge too much in the way of specifics. Example: it could make you and your clients get bad if word gets out that they're happily paying huge legal bills to defend products-liability cases and raise cash for share buybacks or whatever politically-toxic thing they're doing lately.