Chicago - Kirkland or Sidley? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Pros and cons of each? Heard bad things about Kirkland culture but has awesome exit options. I've heard good things about sidley. I clicked well with both.

[Mullens]

Which practice area?

[Anonymous User]

OP here, sorry about that - corporate.

[Anonymous User]

Another person in the same boat -- wondering about litigation

[Anonymous User]

Bump

[Anonymous User]

Out of curiousity, how long between the Sidley CBs and offer?

[Anonymous User]

Out of curiousity, how long between the Sidley CBs and offer?

2 days I believe, but was told that up to 1 week is normal

[Anonymous User]

Sidley

[Anonymous User]

Sidley

Super helpful, thanks!

[Anonymous User]

Sidley

Super helpful, thanks!

Kirkland.

[Anonymous User]

Sidley

Super helpful, thanks!

Kirkland.

I had offers at both and chose K&E for a couple reasons. 1) Slightly better/more high profile work, 2) slightly better reputation in the market and exit opportunities, 3) open assignment system/no face time.

Both great firms though. congrats on the offers.

[rpupkin]

Sidley

Super helpful, thanks!

LOL

[rahulg91]

One of these firms had a 100% offer rate this past summer.

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 7&start=50

[daedalus2309]

One of these firms had a 100% offer rate this past summer.

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 7&start=50

But which one has a better diversity policy with regard to the Greeks?

[valen]

.

[cookiejar1]

I don't think KE's "slightly better/more high profile work" or "slightly better reputation in the market and exit opportunities" are meaningful enough to base your decision off of. While KE's stronger reputation is true to the extent that KE's MM PE practice may blow Sidley's out of the water, I don't think it's useful to consider the relative prestige of these two firms' core corporate practice areas since they differ so strongly in focus. If you want to base your decision off of firm strengths, try looking into the core practice groups at each firm (e.g., Sidley's Global Finance group or KE's PE/fund formation/etc groups) and see if you can see yourself excelling in one of those groups. Otherwise, don't worry about the perceived "high profile work" that each firm does. They're peer firms.

Your future exit options are hard to divine, especially if you don't know what type of corporate work you want to end up practicing. But if I were to generalize the exit options between the two firms, I'd consider both of them to be equal as well.

I received offers from both (ended up at a different, third firm out of market). When I went through this process I focused mostly on the personality of each firm. They're both the top firms in Chicago and they both have cultures that are meaningfully distinct from each other. If you're pretty undecided between which specific group you want to be in corporate, then I recommend choosing the firm that fits your work style and personality. For some, that's Kirkland. For others, that's Sidley.

I'll say one thing - Kirkland is probably the best firm in the market when it comes to recruiting. They really know how to sell the firm. Be cognizant of that, that's all. I always laugh when people make decisions based on the firm that they perceived to have "liked" them more. We're nothing more than a commodity - never forget that. Good luck!

[cookiejar1]

Just wanted to add something that's missing from this thread: KE's compensation. KE's "MARKET-SHATTERING BONUSES" is . . . certainly something to think about. I know I thought about it a lot. The importance of this will differ from person to person but it's another relevant criteria that I think is worth considering. ATL has some comments about Kirkland's bonus structure (e.g., http://abovethelaw.com/2015/12/associat ... ival-firm/).

[Anonymous User]

Had offers at both, chose Sidley for litigation. The culture of the firms was really important to my decision--I felt as though I really "fit" with Sidley's group based on my cb experience and talking to older students. I also loved how the litigation group was structured (one big group so you don't need to commit to any specialties and can work in multiple). Also loved that they capped the number of litigation people that were offered so I didn't have to fight for the group I wanted.

[Anonymous User]

Had offers at both, chose Sidley for litigation. The culture of the firms was really important to my decision--I felt as though I really "fit" with Sidley's group based on my cb experience and talking to older students. I also loved how the litigation group was structured (one big group so you don't need to commit to any specialties and can work in multiple). Also loved that they capped the number of litigation people that were offered so I didn't have to fight for the group I wanted.

Are you implying that for Sidley corporate, people had to fight for the group they wanted?

[Rahviveh]

Sidley if you're a pussy.

[Anonymous User]

heard that Sidleys summer class this year had 51 corporate people (probably where the 3 no offers came from too). If there's that many corporate people, that's a huge backup to follow if you want to do corporate.

[Anonymous User]

Sidley straight up no offered 3 which means probably more got Cold Offered. You may be confident in your abilities but you should know the firm's current management doesn't mind cutting you if you mess up or rub someone the wrong way. Whereas at Kirkland you are completely safe.

[Anonymous User]

Sidley if you're a pussy.

Sidley if you don't want to work with people like this. The culture at Sidley is infinitely better.

Sidley had ~50 transactional summers. Not all can join the same transactional group. Therefore, people who express interest in certain groups and make that known are more likely to be assigned to those groups after they preference them at the end of the summer. A Sidley summer only won't get a group they want if they didn't show enough interest in the group during the summer, but instead merely listed it as their top group at the end. They don't have to "fight" for the groups.

[Anonymous User]

Sidley straight up no offered 3 which means probably more got Cold Offered. You may be confident in your abilities but you should know the firm's current management doesn't mind cutting you if you mess up or rub someone the wrong way. Whereas at Kirkland you are completely safe.

No others were cold offered.

[rahulg91]

Sidley straight up no offered 3 which means probably more got Cold Offered. You may be confident in your abilities but you should know the firm's current management doesn't mind cutting you if you mess up or rub someone the wrong way. Whereas at Kirkland you are completely safe.

No others were cold offered.

1. There's no way you could know this with certainty unless you're at Sidley recruiting (in which case carry on, my apologies).

2. I've heard differently.