Kirkland Chicago Forum

[Anonymous User]

Just hoping to hear from anyone with (preferably first-hand) knowledge of the culture in some of Kirkland Chicago's groups. Mainly concerned with Corporate/Rx.

Had a great impression of everyone I've met there so I'm wondering if the general opinions thrown around here are repeat flame or if its legit

[Anonymous User]

bump

[Anonymous User]

Just hoping to hear from anyone with (preferably first-hand) knowledge of the culture in some of Kirkland Chicago's groups. Mainly concerned with Corporate/Rx.

Had a great impression of everyone I've met there so I'm wondering if the general opinions thrown around here are repeat flame or if its legit

Both of those groups are huge so there's nice people, assholes, and everything in between. Your experience will depend wholly on who you work for.

Corporate - You'll get good experience while working 2800 hours. Less focus on facetime.
Restructuring - You'll get good experience while working 3000 hours. The team is very friendly/social. Get the sense that there's somewhat of a facetime preference relative to corporate.

[Anonymous User]

Any insights on the lit team? Most of the KE Chicago comments I’ve found on this board seem focused on corporate or restructuring and I’m interested in hearing about expectations on the lit side.
For someone who is interested in big fed down the line, does the Chicago litigation team do a lot of work with federal regulators? Any Chicago firms that do more of that?

[Anonymous User]

Just hoping to hear from anyone with (preferably first-hand) knowledge of the culture in some of Kirkland Chicago's groups. Mainly concerned with Corporate/Rx.

Had a great impression of everyone I've met there so I'm wondering if the general opinions thrown around here are repeat flame or if its legit

Both of those groups are huge so there's nice people, assholes, and everything in between. Your experience will depend wholly on who you work for.

Corporate - You'll get good experience while working 2800 hours. Less focus on facetime.
Restructuring - You'll get good experience while working 3000 hours. The team is very friendly/social. Get the sense that there's somewhat of a facetime preference relative to corporate.

2800-3000 hours? Jesus. The bonuses better be fucking fat

I was expecting more like 2500. I’m going to give both groups a go and see which I like better, I guess either way you’re getting pumped by the hours

[Anonymous User]

Any insights on the lit team? Most of the KE Chicago comments I’ve found on this board seem focused on corporate or restructuring and I’m interested in hearing about expectations on the lit side.
For someone who is interested in big fed down the line, does the Chicago litigation team do a lot of work with federal regulators? Any Chicago firms that do more of that?

You will likely work less than corporate/restructuring. Most folks I've talked to clocked in between 2000-2200 for their first year. There's a lot of antitrust work that's pretty cool. A new Wilmer lateral group (led by Reg Brown) does a lot of congressional investigation and CFPB work that's also kind of cool. I think the emphasis tends to be on internal investigations versus government agency facing investigations, so may want to look to other firms if that's your niche. Mayer Brown has a solid investigations team.

[Anonymous User]

Just hoping to hear from anyone with (preferably first-hand) knowledge of the culture in some of Kirkland Chicago's groups. Mainly concerned with Corporate/Rx.

Had a great impression of everyone I've met there so I'm wondering if the general opinions thrown around here are repeat flame or if its legit

Both of those groups are huge so there's nice people, assholes, and everything in between. Your experience will depend wholly on who you work for.

Corporate - You'll get good experience while working 2800 hours. Less focus on facetime.
Restructuring - You'll get good experience while working 3000 hours. The team is very friendly/social. Get the sense that there's somewhat of a facetime preference relative to corporate.

2800-3000 hours? Jesus. The bonuses better be fucking fat

I was expecting more like 2500. I’m going to give both groups a go and see which I like better, I guess either way you’re getting pumped by the hours

The bonuses are decent, folks who are clocking in 3000 hours will get 1.8-1.9x market bonus. But yeah, the hours in corp/rx are absolutely brutal right now. So just keep your eyes open as you are considering. A lot of the support groups (tax, IP transactions, funds) have somewhat more chill hours from what I hear, so that might be the better move for lifestyle idk.

[Anonymous User]

Just hoping to hear from anyone with (preferably first-hand) knowledge of the culture in some of Kirkland Chicago's groups. Mainly concerned with Corporate/Rx.

Had a great impression of everyone I've met there so I'm wondering if the general opinions thrown around here are repeat flame or if its legit

Both of those groups are huge so there's nice people, assholes, and everything in between. Your experience will depend wholly on who you work for.

Corporate - You'll get good experience while working 2800 hours. Less focus on facetime.
Restructuring - You'll get good experience while working 3000 hours. The team is very friendly/social. Get the sense that there's somewhat of a facetime preference relative to corporate.

2800-3000 hours? Jesus. The bonuses better be fucking fat

I was expecting more like 2500. I’m going to give both groups a go and see which I like better, I guess either way you’re getting pumped by the hours

The bonuses are decent, folks who are clocking in 3000 hours will get 1.8-1.9x market bonus. But yeah, the hours in corp/rx are absolutely brutal right now. So just keep your eyes open as you are considering. A lot of the support groups (tax, IP transactions, funds) have somewhat more chill hours from what I hear, so that might be the better move for lifestyle idk.

this news is not surprising but it is most unwelcome

on the bright side (if that exists) there’s gotta be a lot of work to go around

[Anonymous User]

Just hoping to hear from anyone with (preferably first-hand) knowledge of the culture in some of Kirkland Chicago's groups. Mainly concerned with Corporate/Rx.

Had a great impression of everyone I've met there so I'm wondering if the general opinions thrown around here are repeat flame or if its legit

Both of those groups are huge so there's nice people, assholes, and everything in between. Your experience will depend wholly on who you work for.

Corporate - You'll get good experience while working 2800 hours. Less focus on facetime.
Restructuring - You'll get good experience while working 3000 hours. The team is very friendly/social. Get the sense that there's somewhat of a facetime preference relative to corporate.

2800-3000 hours? Jesus. The bonuses better be fucking fat

I was expecting more like 2500. I’m going to give both groups a go and see which I like better, I guess either way you’re getting pumped by the hours

Average hours are well below 2500. There are a handful of people in the 2800-3000 hour range but it’s a minority of the groups

[Anonymous User]

Just hoping to hear from anyone with (preferably first-hand) knowledge of the culture in some of Kirkland Chicago's groups. Mainly concerned with Corporate/Rx.

Had a great impression of everyone I've met there so I'm wondering if the general opinions thrown around here are repeat flame or if its legit

Both of those groups are huge so there's nice people, assholes, and everything in between. Your experience will depend wholly on who you work for.

Corporate - You'll get good experience while working 2800 hours. Less focus on facetime.
Restructuring - You'll get good experience while working 3000 hours. The team is very friendly/social. Get the sense that there's somewhat of a facetime preference relative to corporate.

2800-3000 hours? Jesus. The bonuses better be fucking fat

I was expecting more like 2500. I’m going to give both groups a go and see which I like better, I guess either way you’re getting pumped by the hours

Average hours are well below 2500. There are a handful of people in the 2800-3000 hour range but it’s a minority of the groups

thank you this is reassuring.

also wondering what people in Rx do after Kirkland? I’m assuming most don’t make partner

[Anonymous User]

Any insight into Debt Finance? Same hours as Corporate?

[Anonymous User]

Any insight into Debt Finance? Same hours as Corporate?

Roughly about the same. Hours are generally around 2300-2400.

[Anonymous User]

Any insight into Debt Finance? Same hours as Corporate?

Roughly about the same. Hours are generally around 2300-2400.

Just so people know, this is still quite high. The vast majority of transactional practices across the amlaw 100 are not this high. This board sometimes gets a bit ridiculous on what people are billing.

[Anonymous User]

Any insight into Debt Finance? Same hours as Corporate?

Roughly about the same. Hours are generally around 2300-2400.

Just so people know, this is still quite high. The vast majority of transactional practices across the amlaw 100 are not this high. This board sometimes gets a bit ridiculous on what people are billing.

Not sure how this is relevant in a thread about Kirkland ...

[Anonymous User]

Any insight into Debt Finance? Same hours as Corporate?

Roughly about the same. Hours are generally around 2300-2400.

Just so people know, this is still quite high. The vast majority of transactional practices across the amlaw 100 are not this high. This board sometimes gets a bit ridiculous on what people are billing.

People are KE Chicago are working materially higher hours than at other firms in the city. Associates at peers (Sidley, McDermott, Winston, Mayer Brown, etc.) will be billing less.

You'll get paid a few thousand more than them though, so it's up to you to decide if it's worth it.

[2013]

Any insight into Debt Finance? Same hours as Corporate?

Roughly about the same. Hours are generally around 2300-2400.

Just so people know, this is still quite high. The vast majority of transactional practices across the amlaw 100 are not this high. This board sometimes gets a bit ridiculous on what people are billing.

People are KE Chicago are working materially higher hours than at other firms in the city. Associates at peers (Sidley, McDermott, Winston, Mayer Brown, etc.) will be billing less.

You'll get paid a few thousand more than them though, so it's up to you to decide if it's worth it.

Read this and had to comment. The only “peer” firm is Sidley. Please don’t turn down a Kirkland offer for the other firms.

[Anonymous User]

Any insight into Debt Finance? Same hours as Corporate?

Roughly about the same. Hours are generally around 2300-2400.

Just so people know, this is still quite high. The vast majority of transactional practices across the amlaw 100 are not this high. This board sometimes gets a bit ridiculous on what people are billing.

People are KE Chicago are working materially higher hours than at other firms in the city. Associates at peers (Sidley, McDermott, Winston, Mayer Brown, etc.) will be billing less.

You'll get paid a few thousand more than them though, so it's up to you to decide if it's worth it.

Read this and had to comment. The only “peer” firm is Sidley. Please don’t turn down a Kirkland offer for the other firms.

As a senior associate in Chicago at one of the firms listed above, this is grossly overstated imo. Kirkland Chicago is notorious in terms of hours and culture. I’d gladly take market comp and bonus somewhere else over that.

[Anonymous User]

Any insight into Debt Finance? Same hours as Corporate?

Roughly about the same. Hours are generally around 2300-2400.

Just so people know, this is still quite high. The vast majority of transactional practices across the amlaw 100 are not this high. This board sometimes gets a bit ridiculous on what people are billing.

People are KE Chicago are working materially higher hours than at other firms in the city. Associates at peers (Sidley, McDermott, Winston, Mayer Brown, etc.) will be billing less.

You'll get paid a few thousand more than them though, so it's up to you to decide if it's worth it.

Read this and had to comment. The only “peer” firm is Sidley. Please don’t turn down a Kirkland offer for the other firms.

lol I am a K&E associate but this type of elitism just makes me chuckle, all of those firms pay market and do good work for sophisticated clients, only difference is that for some reason we K&E folk take pride in working way more hours for very little relative upside

[Anonymous User]

Any insight into Debt Finance? Same hours as Corporate?

Roughly about the same. Hours are generally around 2300-2400.

Just so people know, this is still quite high. The vast majority of transactional practices across the amlaw 100 are not this high. This board sometimes gets a bit ridiculous on what people are billing.

People are KE Chicago are working materially higher hours than at other firms in the city. Associates at peers (Sidley, McDermott, Winston, Mayer Brown, etc.) will be billing less.

You'll get paid a few thousand more than them though, so it's up to you to decide if it's worth it.

Read this and had to comment. The only “peer” firm is Sidley. Please don’t turn down a Kirkland offer for the other firms.

lol I am a K&E associate but this type of elitism just makes me chuckle, all of those firms pay market and do good work for sophisticated clients, only difference is that for some reason we K&E folk take pride in working way more hours for very little relative upside

Speak for yourself. I take great pride in working long hours for a firm that most people think produces chickens.

[Anonymous User]

Any insight into Debt Finance? Same hours as Corporate?

Roughly about the same. Hours are generally around 2300-2400.

Just so people know, this is still quite high. The vast majority of transactional practices across the amlaw 100 are not this high. This board sometimes gets a bit ridiculous on what people are billing.

People are KE Chicago are working materially higher hours than at other firms in the city. Associates at peers (Sidley, McDermott, Winston, Mayer Brown, etc.) will be billing less.

You'll get paid a few thousand more than them though, so it's up to you to decide if it's worth it.

Read this and had to comment. The only “peer” firm is Sidley. Please don’t turn down a Kirkland offer for the other firms.

lol I am a K&E associate but this type of elitism just makes me chuckle, all of those firms pay market and do good work for sophisticated clients, only difference is that for some reason we K&E folk take pride in working way more hours for very little relative upside

Speak for yourself. I take great pride in working long hours for a firm that most people think produces chickens.

From K&E Chicago you can go pretty much lateral/exit anywhere in Chicago, which cannot be said about the other mentioned firms.

[Anonymous User]

[/quote]
A lot of the support groups... have somewhat more chill hours from what I hear, so that might be the better move for lifestyle idk.
[/quote]

TITCR, at K&E and elsewhere.

[Anonymous User]

Roughly about the same. Hours are generally around 2300-2400.

Just so people know, this is still quite high. The vast majority of transactional practices across the amlaw 100 are not this high. This board sometimes gets a bit ridiculous on what people are billing.

People are KE Chicago are working materially higher hours than at other firms in the city. Associates at peers (Sidley, McDermott, Winston, Mayer Brown, etc.) will be billing less.

You'll get paid a few thousand more than them though, so it's up to you to decide if it's worth it.

Read this and had to comment. The only “peer” firm is Sidley. Please don’t turn down a Kirkland offer for the other firms.

lol I am a K&E associate but this type of elitism just makes me chuckle, all of those firms pay market and do good work for sophisticated clients, only difference is that for some reason we K&E folk take pride in working way more hours for very little relative upside

Speak for yourself. I take great pride in working long hours for a firm that most people think produces chickens.

From K&E Chicago you can go pretty much lateral/exit anywhere in Chicago, which cannot be said about the other mentioned firms.

Any good exit spots in particular?

I'm OP, will be comin to KE next summer