associate

senior assistant

proposal coordinator

associate attorney

business development specialist

K&L GATES

What is the best part of working at the company?
There is no firm culture. It's completely dead inside - they practice nepotism and favoritism. Office manager has never been one before if that tells you anything. Managing partners are awful - do not work here for any reason. They have a major problem retaining people. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Treatment from the managing partners, no onboarding, no training, horrible atmosphere

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It does not exist - the "favorites" do whatever they want while everyone else is miserable and looking for another job 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
It's bad. They treat non nepo hires and non favorites with zero respect. Very unprofessional management - 8 people left in one year when I was there

The K & L Gates Chicago office is one of the firm's more troubled offices. The Chicago office has suffered a decline in the number of attorneys from around 250 to about 110 in the 5 years since taking over the office from the predecessor Bell, Boyd firm. The support staff has similarly been dramatically reduced in size. Pay raises, bonuses, and the annual Christmas party were dramatically reduced or eliminated. Many of the staff who remain have had their hours reduced (with some leaving at 4:00 for instance), and morale can be described as "dispirited". The nicest people are generally those remaining from the predecessor firm. The new culture can be described as generally stern and rigid. It is an unhappy place.

It was my first job right out of college, so having an easy going job where I was on call to support other departments was good for that. Some days I couldn't find 5 seconds to breathe, some days I wouldn't even get an email. 

Like any other job there were people who were easier to work with and people who don't have the time and/or energy to walk you through stuff so you have to ask other people for help. 

While I definitely felt almost irreplaceable right before I quit due to a move, there were days where I wondered why I should have bothered to spend time and gas to drive into a mostly empty office where I firmly believe no one would have noticed if I just kept working from home. 



Downloaded Daily Report of Clients with outstanding AR balances over 60 days. Reviewed and prioritized which clients needed contacted concerning payments.

Learned to use new Billng and Accounting systems Elite and ARCS

Overall the work atmosphere was relaxed within a team environment, most coworkers were friendly and helpful.

The hardest part of the job was during the last quarter of the year when overtime was required to collect as much of the AR as possible and the lack of cooperation by the attorneys handling the particular clients,

The most enjoyable part of the job was feeling that you accomplished your goals by the end of the day.

I very much enjoyed working at K&L Gates, LLP.  I worked for an attorney in the tax department and two attorneys in the corporate/patents and copywrights department.  I was paid well for the amount of work I did and my supervisors were always patient and happy with my work and eager to help me learn more.  The legal assistants in my team were also very nice and provided a very fun and mutually respectful working environment.  They were also very eager to pitch in and help out when needed or give me help or advice when needed.  K&L Gates, LLP also had very fun holiday parties!

Working at K&L Gates was a great place to work  Coordinating Meetings, Conferences and Specials events.  As Coordinator of the Conference/ Catering team these were a great group of professional co-workers to be able to supervise.

The Hardest part of this job was not being able to say no to the Attorneys or many Clients that I was fortunate to worked with which resulted in making every meeting and special event a great success.

The most enjoyable part of this job was being able to learn so much with my sixteen years there working with a great team of Lawyers and professional  support staff.

Management Committee, which makes the business decisions for the company, has no regard for staff or the attorneys who they support. Support staff are just cogs in a wheel.  If you remain too long under the mistaken belief that you will retire from this company, you may be in for a rude awakening.  After years of service, when you have accrued maximum vacation benefits and are at the top of the pay scale, you will be cut loose despite exemplary performance reviews.  You will then be replaced with new faces.  I do regret having wasted so much of my working career at this cesspool of a law firm when I could have been using my education and talents working at a company with higher regard for its employees.

I was a receptionist at K&L Gates for a brief period of time due to personal reasons. During my time there I was busy from the moment I walked in to the moment I walked out; answering phone calls, organizing files, calling in food orders for meetings, sending e-mails, directing employees to meetings, keeping the front desk tidy, etc. etc. 
Everyone who I encountered while working at K&L Gates were amicable and most importantly professional. 
The hardest part of the job was when all my tasks would come together at once. Even with Time & Project Management skills at times it was a bit overbearing but the job was always completed.

Overall working in KL Gates is a nice and fun experience and enviroment to be in. We have had some troubling times that we endure which leads to certain peole and departments such as myself having to pick up more job duties in other departments to make everything continue to work but the compensation and appreciation has been overlooked when this takes place. As long as everything is being done that is all that matters and continually told "The firm is in a bad place" yet as an employee you are still required to do all that is asked of you and more with no compensation or reward later. I have yet to see oppurtunity or growth within the firm.

I had gained a lot of experience working at K&L due to the fact that i was there and helped in the transition from a card style records system to a legal key Records management software system and finally to going to a mostly paperless system. I think my time at K&L was well spent. I was there at the right moment in time when the firm went through some major changes. All the while learning how to tackle the problems and dealing with the hick-ups as they came along. For me that part of the job was the most valuable.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Associate 1 salary reported	$3,894 per month
Senior assistant 2 salaries reported	$98,250 per year
Proposal coordinator 7 salaries reported	$72,500 per year
Associate attorney 4 salaries reported	$246,250 per year
Business development specialist 1 salary reported	$128,000 per year

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