The firm has opted to extend the notice period required for departing partners worldwide after losing as many as seven equity partners in the last week alone. Two former Kirkland partners have reported that the firm's required notice period for equity partners has been extended from 60 days to 120 days. Meanwhile, partners in the non-equity tier, which were not previously subject to any notice requirements, will now be required to give a full 30-days warning if they are planning to depart the firm. Kirkland management have reportedly also told the partnership that the firm will be allowed to reduce compensation for partners during the required notice period.
Exits en masse
The move will hopefully help Kirkland to maintain client relationships amid exits from the firm. According to data from The American Lawyer's RivalEdge, more than 100 partners have left Kirkland & Ellis since the beginning of 2015—many of them non-equity partners who failed to secure places in the firm's equity partnership. Last week, a team of six partners from Kirkland's London office announced that they would be moving to establish a private equity practice at rival firm Sidley Austin. Just three days later, the news broke that high-yield equity partner James Hagan was defecting to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. According to one former Kirkland partner, it was the promise of a better working environment, not better pay, which pulled the 'Sidley Six' away from Kirkland. 'They wanted to maintain their compensation and improve the culture,' the former partner said. Source: The American Lawyer
Email your news and story ideas to: [email protected]
