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SmokeytheBear

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Re: Kirkland & Ellis

Post by SmokeytheBear » Mon Dec 18, 2017 2:55 pm

rahulg91 wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
SmokeytheBear wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Seems like a pretty social place with a lot of strong personalities. A lot of my classmates with above-average attractiveness/social-IQ but mediocre academics summered there. They actually participate in group plans and trips and activities with their coworkers beyond showing up to work. Seems like a good place to date (or maintain an active sex life with) people at work if you’re similarly calibrated.

I’ve heard some of the stories about miserable environment. Doesn’t seem to stick compared to similarly prestigious firms. Maybe if you’re an introvert, idk. It doesn’t attract top performers in law school (except the Chicago and DC offices) but I don’t really understand why since the firm is incredibly lucrative, has interesting work, and pays a little above market.
Why are law students even responding in this thread?
Anon you are quoting

Use of “classmates” was ambiguous, I should have said former classmates. I’m several years out if law school.
Don't worry about it, Smokey is insufferable in all contexts.
Have we tangoed before?

Anonymous User
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Re: Kirkland & Ellis

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Dec 18, 2017 3:12 pm

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Anonymous User
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Re: Kirkland & Ellis

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Dec 18, 2017 8:47 pm

As a junior associate there right now, I'd have to say that on balance, I'm in balance.

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Re: Kirkland & Ellis

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Dec 20, 2017 7:54 pm

K&E midlevel corp associate here. As far as the "K&E is horrible to work against" comments go, here's a pretty typical example of a daily conversation with counsel to the other side:

Other side: "Please make sure [document] has [provision] in it."
Me: "We'd prefer to keep the document consistent with what was agreed in [purchase Agreement/term sheet/whatever]. That provision was not agreed."
Other side: "Oh is that how you're going to play this? You agreed to that in another deal."
Me: "Ok, but the document we agreed to here does not say that provision is required and we're not going to give it."
Other side: "Fine, if that's how you want to go about this, we can play hard too."
Me: "Are you willing to waive [unrelated provision]? It's problematic because of [reason]"
Other side: "No because we agreed to that provision."
Me: "Ok so why are you requiring something we didn't agree to?"

This happens all day every day. My billable rate is like $800/hour or something like that. Clients don't pay that rate to get a bunch of easygoing attorneys, they pay for great results, and as a junior at K&E it's emphasized that you contribute to those results however you can. Yeah, the client is paying for the share partner or whoever is the relationship, but they're also paying for the nonequity partner and the midlevel to negotiate random things throughout a document.

As for the culture at large, I can only speak for Chicago. Work your hours, don't leave at 6pm when the partner is still reviewing your draft, and don't be weird. I've never heard of someone screaming at another person.

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LaLiLuLeLo

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Re: Kirkland & Ellis

Post by LaLiLuLeLo » Wed Dec 20, 2017 8:05 pm

Anonymous User wrote:K&E midlevel corp associate here. As far as the "K&E is horrible to work against" comments go, here's a pretty typical example of a daily conversation with counsel to the other side:

Other side: "Please make sure [document] has [provision] in it."
Me: "We'd prefer to keep the document consistent with what was agreed in [purchase Agreement/term sheet/whatever]. That provision was not agreed."
Other side: "Oh is that how you're going to play this? You agreed to that in another deal."
Me: "Ok, but the document we agreed to here does not say that provision is required and we're not going to give it."
Other side: "Fine, if that's how you want to go about this, we can play hard too."
Me: "Are you willing to waive [unrelated provision]? It's problematic because of [reason]"
Other side: "No because we agreed to that provision."
Me: "Ok so why are you requiring something we didn't agree to?"

This happens all day every day. My billable rate is like $800/hour or something like that. Clients don't pay that rate to get a bunch of easygoing attorneys, they pay for great results, and as a junior at K&E it's emphasized that you contribute to those results however you can. Yeah, the client is paying for the share partner or whoever is the relationship, but they're also paying for the nonequity partner and the midlevel to negotiate random things throughout a document.

As for the culture at large, I can only speak for Chicago. Work your hours, don't leave at 6pm when the partner is still reviewing your draft, and don't be weird. I've never heard of someone screaming at another person.
Literally all of this applies to firms that aren’t Kirkland as well.

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Anonymous User
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Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Kirkland & Ellis

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Dec 20, 2017 8:14 pm

Fine, ok then, then it just shows that it's a stereotype not really grounded in reality.

MillllerTime

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Re: Kirkland & Ellis

Post by MillllerTime » Wed Dec 20, 2017 11:22 pm

LaLiLuLeLo wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:K&E midlevel corp associate here. As far as the "K&E is horrible to work against" comments go, here's a pretty typical example of a daily conversation with counsel to the other side:

Other side: "Please make sure [document] has [provision] in it."
Me: "We'd prefer to keep the document consistent with what was agreed in [purchase Agreement/term sheet/whatever]. That provision was not agreed."
Other side: "Oh is that how you're going to play this? You agreed to that in another deal."
Me: "Ok, but the document we agreed to here does not say that provision is required and we're not going to give it."
Other side: "Fine, if that's how you want to go about this, we can play hard too."
Me: "Are you willing to waive [unrelated provision]? It's problematic because of [reason]"
Other side: "No because we agreed to that provision."
Me: "Ok so why are you requiring something we didn't agree to?"

This happens all day every day. My billable rate is like $800/hour or something like that. Clients don't pay that rate to get a bunch of easygoing attorneys, they pay for great results, and as a junior at K&E it's emphasized that you contribute to those results however you can. Yeah, the client is paying for the share partner or whoever is the relationship, but they're also paying for the nonequity partner and the midlevel to negotiate random things throughout a document.

As for the culture at large, I can only speak for Chicago. Work your hours, don't leave at 6pm when the partner is still reviewing your draft, and don't be weird. I've never heard of someone screaming at another person.
Literally all of this applies to firms that aren’t Kirkland as well.
I actually would use this example of a silly exchange that Kirkland DOESN'T do. Lots of Kirkland people love to talk about how "commercial" they are, which they basically use to mean that they know when to give points that don't impact the client's bottom line in order to get deals done. Whether most Kirkland lawyers are in fact reasonable is obviously debatable, but the fact that K&E gets a bunch of deals done is not.

I think a lot of the "Kirkland is a bunch of uptight assholes" perception comes from having primarily PE clients, but I also think the uptight assholes are limited to a select few of those clients - and internally you can choose to avoid them if you want. The people who do work for the middle market shops are generally much more chill.

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