JD Journal » Kirkland and Ellis

Morning Roundup

joshua — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 10:19:41 +0000

Good morning everyone! Today is Wednesday, June 2. Here’s a quick look back at yesterday’s stories.

Fish & Richardson nabbed the communications team from McDermott…

A recent poll found nearly two-thirds of Americans are unable to name a single member of the U.S. Supreme Court…

U.S.–based Kirkland Ellis bolstered its London office with the addition of two highly-regarded private equity partners…

Three more partners left Nixon Peabody for rival DLA Piper…

AM Law’s second Hundred also took a hit in ‘09…

Littler Mendelson added a partner to its Philadelphia Office…

A former Kirkland IP Partner launched hiw own IP firm…

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati added an expert patent litigation partner to its IP Practice…

Kirkland to Layoff More than 20

joshua — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 01:50:12 +0000

Kirkland & Ellis piled on the bad news today with layoffs in their New York and Washington DC offices. More than 20 were let go in New York, and an unspecified number in DC. First and second year corporate lawyers were hit particularly hard. These layoffs come at the end of the associate review process and at least one person has said that lawyers not on track to become partners or non equity partners were asked to go. Does it strike anyone else as odd that Kirkland is ready to make that kind of decision based on one or two years of associate level work? Certainly no company wants to admit they are struggling but is it a crime in a weak economy to acknowledge that some layoffs are for purely financial reasons? It is worth noting that Kirkland hasn’t laid anyone off since this time last year and that a significant percentage of summer associates were given offers.

Kirkland & Ellis has 9 offices total, with 6 in the United States. They are best known for their litigation, bankruptcy, and intellectual property departments. They have a track record of high revenues and profits, topping $1.3 billion in revenues in 2007.

Apax To Hire General Counsel

Erik Even — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:50:28 +0000

Apax Partners, a private equity group, is preparing to hire its first global general counsel.

Apax joins a growing list of funds hiring in-house attorneys. Last year private equity fund Bridgepoint hired Travers Smith partner Charles Barter as its general counsel.

TheLawyer.com says that the Apax job will be London-based and is expected to pay between 250,000 and 300,000 pounds (about $350,000 – $450,000) as well as bonuses and a share of “the carry.” The carry is a percentage of the profit made off of the fund. A carry is usually millions of pounds.

Apax has relationships with a number of partners at firms, including Ashurst, Kirkland & Ellis, SJ Berwin and Weil Gotshal & Manges.

Blockbuster Hires Kirkland And Ellis For Financial Issues

Erik Even — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 23:52:48 +0000

To help find a way out of financial woes, Blockbuster has hired the law firm of Kirkland and Ellis.

The video rental company, based in Dallas, Texas, said on Tuesday is bringing in Kirkland and Ellis to arrange enough financing to keep the company solvent in the middle of a worsening recession.

Blockbuster spokeswoman Karen Raskopf said that the 7,500-store chain has no intention to file for bankruptcy protection. Other reports had claimed that Blockbuster hired Kirkland and Ellis because it was looking into bankruptcy filing.

Kirkland & Ellis has existed as a firm for 100 years. The firm handles areas of law including litigation, corporate and tax, intellectual property, restructuring and counseling matters.