Jenner & Block Demotes or Ousts at Least 10 More Equity Partners

The Chicago-based law firm of Jenner & Block is pushing at least 10 more partners out of the equity partnership ranks and asking some of the lawyers to leave, sources told the Chicago Tribune.

The firm's chairman, Anton Valukas, refused to confirm numbers but said some lawyers have been put on “non-equity” status. He characterized the move as not all that unusual. "We periodically review how each of our partners and associates are doing and act on those reviews," he told the Tribune. "It's nothing different this year than we've done in other years."

Last year, the firm cut 15 to 20 equity partners. Other firms have done the same, including Mayer Brown, Winston & Strawn, and Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, the newspaper says. The move can boost the profits of the remaining, more profitable partners.

Kay Hoppe, a Chicago legal recruiter and consultant, told the Trib that law firms are becoming more like sports teams. "They are adding and subtracting and doing what they need to do,” she said. “This is honestly going on almost everywhere I can think of."