KE Restructuring Bloodbath Forum

[Anonymous User]

Word fresh out of a K&E Restructuring reunion in Chicago last night is that the group is looking to get headcount down significantly. The night was apparently full of talk about who'd been let go, who was going to be let go, and who might be let go. Buddy/source told me a lot of the people leaving/fired weren't low performers and were great at their jobs and well regarded, at least when they were in the group. All ranges too, apparently. C/O 2020 all the way to C/O 2017.

(Good buddy of mine from law school was there, shared some gossip).

[Anonymous User]

Word fresh out of a K&E Restructuring reunion in Chicago last night is that the group is looking to get headcount down significantly. The night was apparently full of talk about who'd been let go, who was going to be let go, and who might be let go. Buddy/source told me a lot of the people leaving/fired weren't low performers and were great at their jobs and well regarded, at least when they were in the group. All ranges too, apparently. C/O 2020 all the way to C/O 2017.

(Good buddy of mine from law school was there, shared some gossip).

Cutting RX when we're staring down multiple fed rate rises and a potential recession seems... unlikely to say the least.

[Anonymous User]

Word fresh out of a K&E Restructuring reunion in Chicago last night is that the group is looking to get headcount down significantly. The night was apparently full of talk about who'd been let go, who was going to be let go, and who might be let go. Buddy/source told me a lot of the people leaving/fired weren't low performers and were great at their jobs and well regarded, at least when they were in the group. All ranges too, apparently. C/O 2020 all the way to C/O 2017.

(Good buddy of mine from law school was there, shared some gossip).

Cutting RX when we're staring down multiple fed rate rises and a potential recession seems... unlikely to say the least.

Makes sense on the surface, but I think with the number of competitors for debtor reps that they have now compared to circa 2014, plus the considerable growth in the group (65 attorneys to 180-200 in 2021) they don't want to carry 50-100 extra attorneys in this multi-year pseudo recession thing we have going on. Think they were expecting 2008 #2 and that doesn't seem likely to happen.

The group is also under new management, so there's bound to be some change.

[Anonymous User]

Maybe? I'm suspicious about this still--Ch11s are up iirc, and the idea that the first anyone's hearing about this is from a reunion and not from people actually getting fired is not how most layoff/bloodbath rumors happen. I don't want to say OP is trying to stir the pot quite yet but it seems highly sus.

[Anonymous User]

It hasn’t happened yet but is imminent from what I understand. Time to sharpen up the resumes.

[Anonymous User]

FWIW, I don't know and haven't heard about this but I am a NSP in M&A and have heard from all the restructuring people that they are very busy. There is also a lot of restructuring work going on right now. Not saying this is not true, but I would be very surprised. Now if this "bloodbath" is like the previous K&E "layoffs" earlier this year where they let go less than 5% of associates and it was only the under-performers, then sure, I could see that coming.

[Anonymous User]

FWIW, I don't know and haven't heard about this but I am a NSP in M&A and have heard from all the restructuring people that they are very busy. There is also a lot of restructuring work going on right now. Not saying this is not true, but I would be very surprised. Now if this "bloodbath" is like the previous K&E "layoffs" earlier this year where they let go less than 5% of associates and it was only the under-performers, then sure, I could see that coming.

Less than 1%, based on the Law.com and ATL reporting.

I’ve also heard that restructuring is busy and even if it weren’t, carrying a fairly large restructuring practice during good economies in order to reap the benefits during down economies is a core pillar of the firm’s financial strategy, which it pays for not only with payroll but also conflicting itself out of some of the most lucrative CapM work. To make major cuts in that group’s capacity, especially during an uncertain economy, would be a major shift in the firm’s overall strategy.

[Ultramar vistas]

Nothing about this on K&E fishbowl so seems sus.

[Anonymous User]

It’s fairly accurate. KE restructuring management is horrendous. They’re also going to lose reps/are losing out on ch 11 reps this cycle compared to previous cycles, there’s too much competition. Many of their recent cases are going terribly. They’re probably looking to cut seniors and mid levels if anything. The group is busy but it’s still too large by headcount for everyone to stay busy enough.

[Anonymous User]

The group overall is busy from an Outside perspective but they need A LOT more work for everyone to be billing at the rates they expect.

[Anonymous User]

More lies and dumb rumors. They are doing restructuring training for all transactional associates because they anticipate needing people to step in. Saw this same dumb rumor on biglaw fishbowl.

[Anonymous User]

Yeah they’re training transactional attorneys so they can do 1-2 year work if needed. But it probably won’t be needed given the market, it’s not picking up like they think it is and this cycle will likely be shorter. So they’re going to cut mid to senior levels. There is not enough work for the amount of mid to senior associates in the group.

[Anonymous User]

Yeah they’re training transactional attorneys so they can do 1-2 year work if needed. But it probably won’t be needed given the market, it’s not picking up like they think it is and this cycle will likely be shorter. So they’re going to cut mid to senior levels. There is not enough work for the amount of mid to senior associates in the group.

Yes, exactly. Consensus on the street is that economy recovers by end of Q2 this year. The severe recession that was forecast not too long ago did not materialize.