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Aims: corporate general / M&A / PE; prestige; exit ops; COL; more prestige

Lol the Weil SA voted for Weil

I mean, if you really want prestige I don't see any of the NYC options beating K&E or Sidley in Chi; maybe Skadden's general name brand would be similar. Do you want HQ or non-HQ office? Decide where you want to live, the NYC options are great anyways.

If you want prestige and lower COL, this isn't a hard choice. KE Chi. Chicago is significantly more affordable than NY. Kirkland is a V10 and the most prestigious firm in Chicago. It's a bit of a sweatshop, but so is everyone these days.

Kirkland Chicago seems to be the easy answer if COL is even a small component of your decision. And Kirkland is arguably a more prestigious choice with equal or better exit options anyway to the others on the list.

Kirkland is also moving into a shiny new building right on the river in a couple years, and you’ll get a premium on your year end bonus there. It sucks for other reasons to be sure.

Obviously Kirkland or Sidley Chicago based on your goals. Both are more prestigious than any of the NYC firms as they are the top 2 offices in Chicago. Skadden Chicago is a weird beast, but also very good at what they do if you are interested in tax, for example (which you didn't say you were). Kirkland is a step above Sidley in prestige and a bit better in comp, but there are definitely reasons to choose Sidley (i.e. it's not Kirkland). Exit options really aren't better from Kirkland Chicago than Sidley Chicago, though they will be a bit different. No way to make a wrong choice between these two, though.

Kirklandia and it isn’t close.

Chicago is a great town but New York is the greatest city in the world, so one of your New York options is your best bet

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 24, 2021 11:46 am

Chicago is a great town but New York is the greatest city in the world, so one of your New York options is your best bet

Hmm living in a 2 BR luxury apartment downtown in Chicago or a studio broom closet in Brooklyn via subway with no time anyway to pretend to be a character in Suits. Let’s see…

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 24, 2021 11:46 am

Chicago is a great town but New York is the greatest city in the world, so one of your New York options is your best bet

OP said they care about COL so this is irrelevant trolling.

The Sidley voters are Sidley SAs and juniors; the Kirkland voters are people at other firms. Choose Kirkland.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 24, 2021 12:51 pm

The Sidley voters are Sidley SAs and juniors; the Kirkland voters are people at other firms. Choose Kirkland.

I don't think so. I mean 90% of the folks doing corporate at Sidley could probably get a lateral offer to do corporate at Kirkland (or vice versa, for that matter). The vast majority don't. Is Kirkland a more prestigous firm and definitely the best firm in Chicago, sure. But there are tons of attorneys in Chicago who could work at Kirkland and opt not to (or get SA offers at Kirkland and choose Latham, Sidley or Skadden). It's not crazy and it's not necessarily a bad choice. Kirkland also has an ATROCIOUS reputation for the work culture in Chicago. Sidley's is reasonably good.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 24, 2021 4:00 pm

Kirkland also has an ATROCIOUS reputation for the work culture in Chicago. Sidley's is reasonably good.

Kirkland is probably more likely to be a worse place to work (for more money, more prestige, overall better exits IMHO) but not to the extent it gets hyped up to be. Biglaw sucks generally.

Every Sidley person you talk to is going to claim they got an offer from Kirkland. Don't buy it. They may be able to lateral later, but the firms are not quite peers in Chicago.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 24, 2021 10:51 pm

Every Sidley person you talk to is going to claim they got an offer from Kirkland. Don't buy it. They may be able to lateral later, but the firms are not quite peers in Chicago.

Lol this is such 1L BS. Sidley and Kirkland, and for that matter Latham, Jenner (for lit), etc. are at the very top of the Chicago market. All top Chicago firms are selective, moreso than most top New York firms. Most who work at one could easily work at another.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 24, 2021 10:51 pm

Every Sidley person you talk to is going to claim they got an offer from Kirkland. Don't buy it. They may be able to lateral later, but the firms are not quite peers in Chicago.

Mods, could we add a barf smiley to the list?

Robot wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 25, 2021 1:04 am

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 24, 2021 10:51 pm

Every Sidley person you talk to is going to claim they got an offer from Kirkland. Don't buy it. They may be able to lateral later, but the firms are not quite peers in Chicago.

Lol this is such 1L BS. Sidley and Kirkland, and for that matter Latham, Jenner (for lit), etc. are at the very top of the Chicago market. All top Chicago firms are selective, moreso than most top New York firms. Most who work at one could easily work at another.

Bahahah

OP said they're looking for "prestige; exit ops; COL; more prestige"

COL was mentioned, which means Chicago over NY. Prestige was mentioned twice and workplace culture / QOL was mentioned zero times, so that's a clear Kirkland over Sidley (speaking as a Sidley midlevel). As others have said exit ops are a wash.

Chi-Kirkland, enjoy the grind.

Gotta love that the anon really was a 1L

Robot wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 25, 2021 1:04 am

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 24, 2021 10:51 pm

Every Sidley person you talk to is going to claim they got an offer from Kirkland. Don't buy it. They may be able to lateral later, but the firms are not quite peers in Chicago.

Lol this is such 1L BS. Sidley and Kirkland, and for that matter Latham, Jenner (for lit), etc. are at the very top of the Chicago market. All top Chicago firms are selective, moreso than most top New York firms. Most who work at one could easily work at another.

This is wrong and false equivalence. Kirkland definitely has tighter hiring standards (and much more prestige) than any other firm in Chicago this side of Bartlit. It's obvious if you look at class OCI data, where people on journals place, where people who get Coif place, etc. I can't believe we're having this discussion in 2021 and suspect you're either a troll or a die-hard Sidley guy. There was a time when K&E and Sidley were considered neck and neck but we're talking decades ago, like the 80s.

Obligatory edit: Sidley is a fantastic firm that is extremely respected in Chicago and nationally. It's just this side of the Vault 10 and it's had an amazing ride up the ranks of prestige over the past few decades, as has Kirkland. Anyone who suggests going to Sidley would be some sort of career ding is nuts because it's an elite law firm in its own right. But if the question is "the best" "the most elite" 'the tightest standards" then it's Kirkland not Sidley. And Kirkland also appears to be on a better economic trajectory, although, again, what Sidely's done over the past ten years is nothing to sniff at it's just that Kirkland is in its own universe right now.