Chicago: Where Work Goes To Die
More bad news from Chicago today. The National Law Journal is reporting that the well known construction boutique, Stein, Ray & Harris, laid off a third of their associates:
The firm laid off four of its 14 associates this month after hiring seven attorneys earlier this year in anticipation of an increase in construction litigation linked to the economic downturn, said Robert Harris, a partner at the firm. The jump in such litigation “hasn’t materialized,” though it’s early in the cycle and that may change, he said.
Big firm lawyers, small firm lawyers, it’s bad for lawyers all over Chicago.
Clearly, the only safe job in Chicago is whoever works for Oprah.
… And attorneys at Kirkland & Ellis.
Small construction firm, slammed by economy, lays off nearly a third of its associates [Law.com]
Earlier: Nationwide Layoff Watch: Bell Boyd Confirms Layoffs
Nationwide Layoff Watch: Jenner & Block Cuts … Partners
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FIRST-SUCK IT ATL
First to say Chicago is TTT.
Skadden Chicago is planning on shedding 10% of their workforce. Scary times.
does k&e hire 1L’s?
*nervously prepares Chicago mail merge*
-nervous T-10 1L
email job leads to nervoust101l@yahoo.com
Because Northwestern is TTT?
where's Chicago finance dood when you need him?
Chicago is where work goes to die? Is Charlotte going to exist this time next year??
Why does anyone think K&E is safe? They had stealth layoffs last year and work is ridiculously down this year.
I thought Charlotte closed its doors three months ago. People still live and work there?
that sucks
8=Sidley troll.
Charlotte will dry up and blow away, leaving nothing but the faint echo of 'wwwaaa-koohh-veeee-yauhhhh' blowing through the deserted streets.
Good riddance.
12, agreed. even when things were good in charlotte, that town sucked. it's hard to get around there. they need some interstates, and some cool people too.
sensationalism.
*furiously italicizes pie-making skills on resume, lists Elie as a reference, and sends resume to Oprah*
-nervous T-10 1L
email job leads to nervoust101l@yahoo.com
Good news day...props to Elie.
*sits here and wishes nervous t-10 1L would shut up and stop annoying everyone.*
Everyone knows that Chicago is 10x better than ManhaTTTan.
First to say SkaddenDC guy is unemployed or is soon to be laid off (he seems to have too much time on his hands) and is posting as #3 here.
First to say SkaddenDC guy is unemployed or is soon to be laid off (he seems to have too much time on his hands) and is posting as #3 here.
Once again, Elie overblows it.
Only TTT firms in Chicago have laid people off.
Suck it, Mystal. You're a mantittied walrus and you should have gone to Howard.
Who said work is "ridiculously down" at K&E this year? Obviously not someone who works here.
4: K&E Chicago doesn't hire 1Ls. It's elite that way.
8: The "stealth layoffs" were a handful of typical annual performance-based reviews that ATL hyped as part of its attempt to manufacture "layoffs" back when they weren't really yet occurring. Now that real layoffs are taking place, those rumors shouldn't appear on ATL anymore. Except, of course, when Sidley associates post them in the comments.
Kirkland dominates Chicago on bonuses again this year.
"The plaque for the alternates is in the ladies room."
Who said work is "ridiculously down" at K&E this year? Obviously not someone who works here.
Skadden chicago is firing everybody, picking up, and moving to Milwaukee so it can spend more time with its kids.
Can anyone name a good reason not to accept a K&E offer in this market?
Is there any meaningful difference in saftey between KE and Sidley in Chi?
For the record, whatever NALP says, K&E hired at least 2 1L's last year.
28 - yes. K&E is better positioned to ride out the economy than Sidley is (strong bankruptcy and IP lit practices to balance any slowdown in corporate).
Isn't Chicago called the big windy!
28, those are most 2Ls at law schools where they're getting a JD/Masters in 3.5 or 4 years. They're reported as 1Ls after their second year, however, because they have not yet completed two full years of legal coursework (although they've completed two years of graduate school).
21--Howard, huh? Wonder why you picked THAT school...
As black kids say nowadays (pick one of two): 1) Go kill yourself, or 2) your mother should have swallowed you.
Who gives a shit about 1L's? Go home and work for a local law firm and hope summer 2010 looks better.
If you're black and don't go to HLS, you will never be president.
This is worrisome for me, because I plan to stay in the area. I hope that the downturn doesn't affect Chicago Law students too badly, though I know that many of us want to stay local and we'll probably face tough competition to do so.
31--you are wrong. KE Chicago hired 2 1Ls from my 1L class, neither of them are JD/MBA, both of them are 2Ls with me now.
#14 -- agreed. This sounds like an isolated instance where a firm made an exceptionally poor decision to double in size at precisely the wrong time. Given that history, these layoffs cannot be used as a proxy for the Chicago market as a whole. That's not to say Chicago is necessarily doing good right now, just that we need more information. So far, I haven't heard of any non-TTT firms in Chicago laying people off.
Does anyone know the truth of #3's statement about Skadden Chicago?
38--probably just some bitter 2L who didn't get an offer.
2: where are you, NYC? Yeah, I hear there used to be some good work there. . .
p.s. thanks for ruining the economy bitch.
DLA Piper is unclogging the pipes as well. Associates "leaving" weekly.
Mayer Brown.
36 is right. K&E Chicago has occasionally hired 1Ls
K&E always hires 1Ls. If you are obscuring that fact for personal gain you are a douchebag gunner.
It's a constructin boutique. Not surprising.
44 - Not true. This is the first year they have hired 1Ls. They hired 3 in the Chicago office. One each from Harvard, Northwestern, and Chicago.
Elie, what the hell is wrong with you? California firms are dissolving left and right, yet some lame-ass firms in Chicago lay off a few associates and you are claiming that Chicago is "where work goes to die." A fcking "Construction Boutique". . . you have got to be kidding me with this shit.
Hmm, let's see...this site depends on "hits" in order to survive. Chicago is a huge ATL market: dozens of biglaw offices, including a handful of giant offices, plus six law schools (with three more outside the city). That's thousands of students and associates, most of whom are some combindation of neurotic, insecure, competitive, cynical and polemical. And once someone's school, firm or, in this high anxiety environment, city, is feature in a thread on ATL, that person become's an ATL lemming, checking it throughout each day.
Thus when some "construction boutique" cans people (who I'm sure are perfectly competent lawyers and for whom I do indeed have sympathy), ATL frames it as if things have gone off a cliff in the Chicago market. But Elie, nearly 24 hours later, I'm not even the 50th poster (and it is to my unending shame that I can't think of any way to make 50th rhyme with pretzels or thirsty). Perhaps many in Chicago actually have some work to do? Or maybe they're spending the downtime educating themselves, completing CLE credits, taking on some pro bono work, pitching in on the myriad holiday season charity drives, or are...gasp...paying attention to things outside of the world of law gossip.
Yes, we need to hear about firm layoffs, but please spare us the hyperbole as to entire markets (Chicago is not, e.g., Charlotte). We might be lemmings here on ATL, but we're not idiots.
Lemme get this straight, the economy was grinding to a halt and this firm was planning on an UPTICK in construction litigation?
Ummmmm.....okay, so 4 construction projects get shelved. Where's the "boom" there?
Elie, I've kept an open mind about you and your reporting, been willing to ignore the common grammatical errors etc, but this is just sensational journalism. "Where work goes to die"? Seriously? I doubt you even believe that. The Chicago market is doing fine, at least among the big three, regardless about whatever the Mayer Brown troll likes to post in the comments.
Also, KE Chicago hired 2 UChicago 1Ls last summer, not sure about other schools they hired 1Ls from.
Jones Day.
Jones Day.
In this economy, every city is shedding jobs. But Chicago is still better off than NYC. We are not entirely dependent on the financial sector and have diversified.
It's funny seeing wealth and jobs leave NYC. Chicago is still rising, and once it wins the 2016 Olympics bid, there will be no doubt that Chicago is superior to NYC. Why would anyone want to live in a filthy overcrowded ghetto like NYC when you can live in a luxury condo overlooking Lake Michigan?
NYC is yesterday's news. Nothing more than dirty streets, ugly buildings, ugly women, and boring nightlife.