Layoffs

Are Layoffs Coming to Kirkland & Ellis?

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The rumor mill is churning over at Kirkland & Ellis this week. While we’re unable to confirm that the firm is poised to grind down associates, we are hearing from sources worried that layoffs are coming.
The first warning sign came last week, when we learned that Kirkland had decided to move up annual performance reviews. A tipster reported the news this way:

Kirkland and Ellis has moved up its annual review process by 2-3 months. Look for layoffs (stealth or otherwise), likely starting sometime in August.

In this market, changing the timing of performance reviews is often interpreted as a move by the firm to set up for layoffs. But associates are so generally terrified these days that just having a partner look at an associate the wrong way can make a person freak out.
Other evidence suggesting that Kirkland is gearing up for a round of layoffs, after the jump.


It’s one thing to have an honest round of performance evaluations. It’s another thing to use those performance evaluations to justify layoffs. It seems disingenuous to conduct performance evaluations when the firm already knows who it is going to fire. We’re not sure that is what Kirkland is planning to do, but here is a report from a source:

THERE IS A LIST OF ASSOCIATES WHO ARE GOING TO BE CANNED DISTRIBUTED TO PARTNERS ALREADY.

If true, we can forgive the tipster’s use of all-caps.
Kirkland representatives did not respond to our multiple requests for comment. But our sources believe that Kirkland’s layoff list could include the names of up to 10% of the firm’s associates.
Obviously we haven’t seen any such list. Assuming it exists, it could just be a list of associates who will be reviewed closely, but who might still have a chance to save their jobs. And even if it is a layoff list, it could be a preliminary list, not the final number of people that will be let go.
We know that Kirkland summers are leaving this Friday. And another tipster reports that Kirkland partners had a “pow-wow” last week. That kind of circumstantial evidence has some associates freaking out about what is happening at the firm.
Hopefully nobody will get fired at Kirkland in the coming weeks. But if K&E already has a “layoff list,” maybe the the firm will also give associates the dignity of an honest explanation for the cuts.
We’ll keep you posted. If you have information to share, whether confirming or dispelling K&E layoff rumors — we’d be happy to be wrong about this — please email us.
Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Kirkland & Ellis

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