associate

junior paralegal

paralegal

associate attorney

attorney

Kirkland & Ellis

Provided strong excellent secretarial support to three share partners and one associate; recommended or made decisions and took independent action following broad objectives on strategic and operational matters affecting major function within the practice group; resolved major issues involving external client service coordination, billing adjustments or special information needs via in person or over the phone; served as Lead Trial Secretary for numerous high profiled trials; assisted practice group leader and attorneys in development of various data; provided professional, courteous and flexibility when dealing with clients on behalf of attorney; planned, scheduled and delegated for upcoming trials sites in/out of state for attorneys, clients, and expert witnesses; organized set up/break down of trial offices; negotiated contracts and pricing for hotel/conference room arrangements and vendors for litigation services; prepared trial exhibits and deposition designations; prepared witness files for deposition preparation and testimony in court; prepared and arranged for service of subpoenas; and managed and prepared depositions and testimony for hearings.

You get a first-hand view at what goes into massive cases, so you can learn a ton (both the good and the bad) about what big law looks and feels like and that information and experience can be valuable if you're interested in big law in the future.

Pros:
- overtime pay for paralegals to help cover high cost of living in big city locations
- overtime meals and travel expenses can be reimbursed
- great exposure to biglaw
- hybrid work environment

Cons:
- extremely long hours and poor (some might even say nonexistent) work life balance. seriously, they're not kidding, you will have no life outside of work. on bad weeks, which are more common than not, you work 80-100 hours.
- your experience and environment varies immensely by department and by supervising paralegal. if you luck out and get a good team, it makes the hours bearable. If you don't, it makes the hours unbearable. 
- management doesn't really do anything about complaints. turnover rate for staff is very high, people are constantly in and out.
- you will often feel unappreciated by the firm and the attorneys
- Few socialization and networking opportunities for staff - everybody is too busy working to bother planning or going to any events


As an intern at Kirkland and Ellis LLP I felt very comfortable. The first week of work consisted of me shadowing one of the full-time IT employees in order to get a handle on what to expect when eventually working on tasks alone. I always felt welcomed and safe, but most importantly, I felt that I had many skilled coworkers who would gladly answer questions if I had them. Working at Kirkland and Ellis LLP provided me with an amazing opportunity to work with many talented people, and it was a privilege to learn many other skills that I would not have expected to learn during my internship. I learned to image desktops and laptops, and I was taught many troubleshooting techniques which helped make work easier.The job itself was quiet difficult at first, but like any job, I was able to catch on. That's not to say that the job became easy because working in IT as an intern I was met with many issues that I had not expected to encounter. Luckily, with some guidance from my more experienced coworkers I was able to resolve those unexpected issues I came across.

Kirkland has one of the most talented IT departments I have ever worked for.  There is opportunity to learn all the latest and greatest technologies here because Kirkland has a leading edge IT organization.  However, since it's a law firm, it's very demanding because the goal is perfection and nothing less.  Working 12 to 14 hour days is not uncommon.  However, the compensation is off the charts and may justify not having a life with your family.    The managers are supportive of their team members, especially when things are going well.  A typical day starts and ends with constant fires that have to be distinguished.  The best part of your day is that there is always something to do.  Some managers are more demanding than others.  They have to push their team so all the metrics they are measured against are met / or exceeded.  The most enjoyable part of working here is the diverse group of people you get to spend time with in the trenches.  You develop some great friendships as you work with all the cross-functional teams to get work done.

First starting off, Kirkland & Ellis seemed like a great place to work. Free snacks, staff in  generally friendly. I started off with a great team, and we all advanced into different roles. Across the board, I learned there is a general consensus that there is a lack of leadership among mid level management. The culture is not great, but also not terrible. Most veteran staff members are aware they are being underpaid due to standard practice and there is a wide culture gap between attorneys and staff. Which has also been amplified by recent articles that stated many Partners are receiving million dollar bonus mid-year and most staff are lucky to receive an annual increase even if they put in the time and work beyond what is expected of them. 

Generally, the culture for this office has become fairly toxic due to the recent choices the firm has made to cut short spending on staff and widen the divide between them and the attorneys. The culture is now a revolving door as once someone gets training they are able to move into a new firm or start up shortly and get paid much more that Kirkland could offer.

Typical day at work:
Opening the store, unloading boxes, organizing merchandise, running all registers, answering random incoming phone calls, assisting customers, cleaning, and managing frequent interruptions. Very high multitasking expectations.
What you learned:
Basic retail tasks and time management, but limited formal training or skill development beyond daily operations.
Management:
Highly micromanaged environment with constant pressure. Expectations often felt unclear or impossible to meet.
Workplace culture:
Low morale and high stress. Communication between staff was often negative, which made the environment difficult.
Hardest part of the job:
Trying to meet constantly changing expectations while multitasking under close supervision and frequent interruptions.
Most enjoyable part:
End of shift.

Normal day of work would consist of multiple projects at a time, such as coordinating deposition preparation materials for associates and partners. Continuing to maintain several logs and calendars, daily and to update per the request of senior legal assistants and circulate to entire team.
Worked as part of a large team on one of the largest cases in firm history, which was very trying and difficult at times. It was important to keep up team morale and focus, in order to deal with the long, late hours.
A great deal of travel was required, which was interesting and exciting but also very difficult to maintain relationships, outside of work. The relationships that I made through the company were great ones, both professionally and personally.

Kirkland & Ellis is, in my opinion, the finest law firm in Chicago. 
There are many challenges in a typical day at Kirkland but with the best talent in the IT industry around you it's a opportunity to learn and grow. 
I learned that while you're expected to be responsible for your assignments you need to be at the ready to assist your teammates, legal staff and partners at a moments notice. 
Management is approachable and listens to their people, responding to ideas and open to various ways of completing assignments. 
The hardest part of the job was the late night on-call assignments where you have to roll out of bed and be at your best.
The best part of the job was working with and for some of the kindest, most compassionate, and highly-intelligent individuals I've ever had the pleasure to call my colleagues.

Primary responsibility is to assist the White Collar Crime practice group, focusing on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, by managing assigned case workloads through case activity guidance; research and cite-checking; document retention, preservation, organization and production to third parties; electronic discovery logistics; document collections. As well as assisting attorneys in preparing for meetings with clients and government agencies; drafting correspondence to clients, government agencies and other third parties; managing case files, calendars and multiple online document databases. In addition to my responsibilities to the White Collar practice group I also maintain the International Trade practice SharePoint website which tracks all OFAC settlements and recent actions.

I really like the people KE hires; they care about the firm as well as each other. You can move up, have challenging work and mentorship, if you have the wright manager or is one of the favorites. If you do not have an Assistant Director/Manager mentoring you or shelter from the rough High management, you will be ignored, impossible to move up and bonuses are up to people that may not have your interest in heart. 

I will say that they give you chances to correct any work issues/work methods you may have and you can receive training (depending on your department) but all in all, a good place that has good pay great staff and has its rough spots like any other big firm 

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