Kirkland #1 on AmLaw Forum

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Kirkland #1 on AmLaw

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Mar 21, 2018 8:30 pm

"Kirkland & Ellis has dethroned Latham & Watkins as the world’s largest law firm by gross revenue after growing its top line by 19 percent last year, to $3.165 billion, according to preliminary data and analysis by ALM." PPP at $4.7M

https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/2018 ... y-revenue/

KM2016

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Re: Kirkland #1 on AmLaw

Post by KM2016 » Wed Mar 21, 2018 10:55 pm


2013

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Re: Kirkland #1 on AmLaw

Post by 2013 » Wed Mar 21, 2018 11:01 pm

I guess that’s what happens when a first year associate charges like $600 an hour

Graybrow

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Re: Kirkland #1 on AmLaw

Post by Graybrow » Thu Mar 22, 2018 7:51 am

RPL went up a little bit (5%), PPP went up dramatically, and headcount went up dramatically, mostly from beefing up KE's non-Chicago offices. Largest PE dealflow by a mile and the largest 4 chapter 11s. Looks healthy, but I wouldn't blame incoming KE associates from being paranoid they're joining the next Latham & Watkins.

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Re: Kirkland #1 on AmLaw

Post by MillllerTime » Thu Mar 22, 2018 10:48 am

Graybrow wrote:RPL went up a little bit (5%), PPP went up dramatically, and headcount went up dramatically, mostly from beefing up KE's non-Chicago offices. Largest PE dealflow by a mile and the largest 4 chapter 11s. Looks healthy, but I wouldn't blame incoming KE associates from being paranoid they're joining the next Latham & Watkins.
Of the larger law firms (can use Am Law 100 or whatever proxy you want), Kirkland is probably the one most run like a business, which means it will certainly cut dead weight when needed while at the same time offering up large sums of money for new lines of business (lateral hires) that lockstep firms are underpaying. I probably drink the koolaid a bit on this, but the numbers don't lie and certainly seem to support it. This isn't necessarily good or bad for associates, but I do think it's one of the safest places to go and guarantee you will get plenty of work for your first few years with a relatively small chance of being forced out early. Notwithstanding the cutting deadweight point, the firm also clearly gets that it's worth spending extra money on associates to keep them around (e.g. large bonuses, biz-dev budget), and doesn't do any of the nonsense like enforcing TTT hours minimums for bonuses - more importantly, they haven't no-offered a summer in years and (anecdotally) whenever they do push people out, it's more of the "please start looking for another job in the next 6 months" variety rather than a swift layoff. All this to say I think they are too concerned about outside perception to do a Lathaming and have the money to not need to even in a bad downturn.

Again - I'm a K&E associate so take all of this with a whatever amount of salt you deem necessary.

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Re: Kirkland #1 on AmLaw

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Mar 22, 2018 11:46 am

MillllerTime wrote:
Graybrow wrote:RPL went up a little bit (5%), PPP went up dramatically, and headcount went up dramatically, mostly from beefing up KE's non-Chicago offices. Largest PE dealflow by a mile and the largest 4 chapter 11s. Looks healthy, but I wouldn't blame incoming KE associates from being paranoid they're joining the next Latham & Watkins.
Of the larger law firms (can use Am Law 100 or whatever proxy you want), Kirkland is probably the one most run like a business, which means it will certainly cut dead weight when needed while at the same time offering up large sums of money for new lines of business (lateral hires) that lockstep firms are underpaying. I probably drink the koolaid a bit on this, but the numbers don't lie and certainly seem to support it. This isn't necessarily good or bad for associates, but I do think it's one of the safest places to go and guarantee you will get plenty of work for your first few years with a relatively small chance of being forced out early. Notwithstanding the cutting deadweight point, the firm also clearly gets that it's worth spending extra money on associates to keep them around (e.g. large bonuses, biz-dev budget), and doesn't do any of the nonsense like enforcing TTT hours minimums for bonuses - more importantly, they haven't no-offered a summer in years and (anecdotally) whenever they do push people out, it's more of the "please start looking for another job in the next 6 months" variety rather than a swift layoff. All this to say I think they are too concerned about outside perception to do a Lathaming and have the money to not need to even in a bad downturn.

Again - I'm a K&E associate so take all of this with a whatever amount of salt you deem necessary.
I'm a K&E associate as well and think this is generally true, but I think in the next downturn partners will be more interested in protecting PPP than in keeping on associates who don't have enough work, irrespective of the outside perception. I'm no longer convinced it's Dewey, which I was worried about when I lateraled, but I don't think they're going to spend a lot of money to keep people they don't think they need. Probably not a full-on Lathaming of an entire class, but I think there will be layoffs when the music stops.

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Re: Kirkland #1 on AmLaw

Post by Graybrow » Thu Mar 22, 2018 12:01 pm

MillllerTime wrote:
Graybrow wrote:RPL went up a little bit (5%), PPP went up dramatically, and headcount went up dramatically, mostly from beefing up KE's non-Chicago offices. Largest PE dealflow by a mile and the largest 4 chapter 11s. Looks healthy, but I wouldn't blame incoming KE associates from being paranoid they're joining the next Latham & Watkins.
Of the larger law firms (can use Am Law 100 or whatever proxy you want), Kirkland is probably the one most run like a business, which means it will certainly cut dead weight when needed while at the same time offering up large sums of money for new lines of business (lateral hires) that lockstep firms are underpaying. I probably drink the koolaid a bit on this, but the numbers don't lie and certainly seem to support it. This isn't necessarily good or bad for associates, but I do think it's one of the safest places to go and guarantee you will get plenty of work for your first few years with a relatively small chance of being forced out early. Notwithstanding the cutting deadweight point, the firm also clearly gets that it's worth spending extra money on associates to keep them around (e.g. large bonuses, biz-dev budget), and doesn't do any of the nonsense like enforcing TTT hours minimums for bonuses - more importantly, they haven't no-offered a summer in years and (anecdotally) whenever they do push people out, it's more of the "please start looking for another job in the next 6 months" variety rather than a swift layoff. All this to say I think they are too concerned about outside perception to do a Lathaming and have the money to not need to even in a bad downturn.

Again - I'm a K&E associate so take all of this with a whatever amount of salt you deem necessary.
I mean it makes sense. The fact that RPL went up another 5 percent to over 1.5 million is also a good sign for associates. It means generally speaking you're probably profitable to keep around, even during recessions when that RPL number probably dips by a fair bit.

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Re: Kirkland #1 on AmLaw

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Mar 22, 2018 12:35 pm

Just curious. What is the KE biz dev budget? Considering a lateral offer there (mid level) and that is something I forgot to inquire about

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Re: Kirkland #1 on AmLaw

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Mar 22, 2018 12:43 pm

Incoming Kirkland associate. Does anyone know if associate bonuses this year reflected the increases in revenue and PPP?

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Re: Kirkland #1 on AmLaw

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:18 pm

Speaking of, can someone already in Kirkland give advice on how to survive the junior years, especially the busiest departments like Restructuring right now? I get that everybody works hard and gets off by working hard, even hard-workers need some guidance swimming in a shark tank. APPRECIATE IT!!

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Re: Kirkland #1 on AmLaw

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Mar 22, 2018 11:35 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Incoming Kirkland associate. Does anyone know if associate bonuses this year reflected the increases in revenue and PPP?
Ha of course not, but most people got 1.3-1.5 market, which is pretty nice when plenty of firms don't even guaranty you a bonus.

Also, not sure why a firm doing incredibly well financially is a sign of being the next Latham. In bad times, people will get laid off, but it's not like the firm is by any means the most aggressive expander.

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Re: Kirkland #1 on AmLaw

Post by MillllerTime » Fri Mar 23, 2018 9:30 am

The Business Development Budget ranges from $500-$1500 based on associate seniority, but this is just the amount that you don't need partner approval for (e.g. take your friend from undergrad who works at a bank out for cocktails/dinner). Partners can and liberally do approve $ over that if you're going out with the junior people at one of their clients.

The bonus point was a bit of an internal joke: they gave us a big presentation about how successful the firm has been this year and almost made it seem like we would be returning to the days of 3x or 4x market... only to have the punchline be "everyone gets an extra$5k!" - not that I'm complaining about $5k on top of an already 1.4x market bonus, but it certainly didn't reflect the fact that partners were apparently Scrooge-McDucking it in their piles of money last year. I now look at the bonus as a nice touch that shows associates they appreciate (hah) the extra hours and signals financial strength, but it's not enough money at any given class year to keep / bring someone to Kirkland that otherwise prefers another firm.

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Re: Kirkland #1 on AmLaw

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Mar 25, 2018 1:00 am

Median 1L at a lower t13 here

Does an interest in doing restructuring work help at all with hiring for summer associates at K&E? That and real estate are the areas I'm the most interested in currently.

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spha12

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Re: Kirkland #1 on AmLaw

Post by spha12 » Mon Mar 26, 2018 1:11 am

what's crazy is how latham has hundreds of more attorneys and still got overtaken. are they just using lower billing model in certain cities?

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Re: Kirkland #1 on AmLaw

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Mar 26, 2018 8:29 pm

K&E should move to $200k starting salaries, with all the money it's making. Especially for the New York office

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Re: Kirkland #1 on AmLaw

Post by blahblewblah » Tue Mar 27, 2018 2:25 pm

Anonymous User wrote:K&E should move to $200k starting salaries, with all the money it's making. Especially for the New York office
Do you think Kirkland NY associates bill out at higher rates than other offices?

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