Kirkland Non-Share Partners Face Personal Reckoning

Kirkland & Ellis’ roster of ‘non-share’ partners is an unmatched financial engine among Big Law firms. Most will not make the coveted equity partner status. So, what is it like for these super-smart, highly-motivated lawyers to confront the upper bounds of law firm life?

Analysis: Bloomberg Law identified the current jobs of 821 of the 840 lawyers promoted to Kirkland’s non-share partner tier from 2009 through last year. The analysis shows the breadth of influence Kirkland’s alumni have on the legal community.

Personal Stories: “You wanted to be part of the club and know you have what it takes. And you’re getting the feedback that you don’t. That’s obviously incredibly painful,” one former Kirkland partner said of not making shares. Roy Strom has the story.

DAILY BRIEF

Law Firms

Debevoise Moves to Manhattan’s Hudson Yards
Debevoise & Plimpton has a new home in the Big Apple as the firm announces its new headquarters in Hudson Yards.

Sheppard Mullin Hires Irell & Manella Appellate Co-Chair
Sheppard Mullin has hired David Schwarz, the former co-chair of Irell & Manella’s appellate practice, in its Century City, Calif. office.

In-House

Ventas REIT Nabs Top Lawyer From Risk Management Firm Assurant
Leave it to an insurance company to give Ventas Inc., one of the largest real estate investment trusts in America’s health care sector, a new leader of its law department.

DXC Technology Hires Ex-AECOM Legal Chief as Chief Risk Officer
DXC Technology Co. has hired former O’Melveny & Myers partner Carla Christofferson as chief risk officer.

Business of Law

Burford Plans U.S. Listing After Muddy Waters Criticism
Burford Capital said it plans to pursue a U.S. stock market listing and provide more detail on its leaders’ compensation, in the wake of criticisms lodged by hedge fund Muddy Waters last year.

Legal Tech

Legal Tech Platform Reynen Court Secures Additional $3 Million
The legal tech “app store” Reynen Court has secured $3 million more in funding as the startup prepares for its official launch in the first quarter of this year.

Ethics

Montana Attorney Seeking to Dismiss Ethics Charge Denied Relief
A suspended Montana attorney who asked the state’s highest court to dismiss additional, pending disciplinary charges against her because she’s not subject to the disciplinary commission’s jurisdiction struck out when the court denied her petition.

WAKE-UP CALL

Gender Balance Off at Solicitors Office as Female Lawyers Exit
In today’s Wake Up Call, Holland & Knight hired a former FBI special agent as a partner in Chicago, while Latham & Watkins is advising a group of immigration judges on their fight against a DOJ effort to scuttle their union.

LAW X.0 PODCAST

ANALYSIS: #MeToo Makes its Mark in M&A Deals (Podcast)
Bloomberg Law legal analyst Grace Maral Burnett, discusses how the #MeToo movement (and “Weinstein clauses”) is changing M&A deals. Burnett shares what she found when she analyzed publicly available M&A agreements and describes the specific elements that are becoming market standard in the wake of #MeToo.

Listen now or subscribe: Via Apple Podcasts | Via Stitcher | Via Spotify | Via Overcast

PRACTITIONER INSIGHTS

INSIGHT: In-House Legal Teams Not Ready for Privacy Regs, Survey Reveals
Results of an Exterro in-house survey show in-house legal teams aren’t ready for privacy and cyber regulations. Mike Hamilton, with Exterro, says corporate counsel must reconsider their role in identifying business risks and cost-effective ways to comply with new regulations.

INSIGHT: CFPB Uses Settlement, Workshop to Flex Credit Reporting Muscle
A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau settlement in November and a December workshop with the FTC highlighted where the CFPB stands with regard to compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Goodwin‘s Anthony Alexis examines its jurisdiction in the credit reporting market and what lies ahead.

WHAT ELSE WE’RE WATCHING

Litigation finance is becoming a big business. Bloomberg Law’s Roy Strom will take questions on this topic in a Reddit AMA at 12pm EST.

WORKFLOWS

Goulston & Storrs hired Mark Eagan as a director in the Real Estate Group in New York from Hogan Lovells LLP | Sheppard Mullin added Scott E. Oross as a partner in the Corporate practice group and as a member of the Life Sciences and FDA industry team in San Diego - Del Mar from Paul Hastings | Blank Rome hired Paul H. Tzur as a partner in the White Collar Defense & Investigations group in Chicago | McGuireWoods Consulting’s federal public affairs team in Washington added Thomas Cassidy as senior vice president, and Nicole Cohen as vice president | Mayer Brown hired James Schell as a partner in its Corporate & Securities practice in New York from Skadden | Norton Rose Fulbright has appointed St. Louis partner Stacey Murphy as its Head of Healthcare Practice | Snell & Wilmer said that Ellen T. Hoecker has joined as a staff attorney in the commercial litigation practice group in Phoenix | Frost Brown Todd’s Dallas office hired T. Ray Guy to the litigation practice; he is the former head of the Dallas litigation team for Weil, Gotshal & Manges | Jones Day has appointed Rebekah “Becky” Kcehowski (partner in the Business & Tort Litigation Practice) as Partner-in-Charge of its Pittsburgh office; and appointed Lee DeJulius (partner in the Business & Tort Litigation and Issues & Appeals practices) as Partner-in-Charge of its New York office | Holland & Knight hired Brian Hayes, most recently chief of the Criminal Division for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, as a partner who will head its White Collar Defense and Investigations practice in Chicago | Kramer Levin named James J. Moriarty and Ernest S. Wechsler as co-chairs of the Corporate department; Howard T. Spilko and Paul H. Schoeman became co-managing partners of the firm; and Jamie Kocis and Todd E. Lenson will serve as the department’s deputy chairs | Greenberg Traurig’s Minneapolis office added Margaret J. Weil as of counsel in the Tax Practice from Fredrikson & Byron, P.A.