K&L Gates chairman says partner departures are consistent with the firm's 'performance culture'
Most of the 90 partners who left K&L Gates in the last seven months were nonequity partners who left after a process of “rational” performance reviews, according to law firm chairman Peter Kalis.
In an interview with Bloomberg Big Law Business, Kalis said K&L Gates has a performance culture and it is stronger than ever, despite the partner departures.
Many of the partners who left have been replaced with the more than 50 associates who were promoted to nonequity partnership March 1, Kalis said.
“We have a bond with our best performing associates that they are going to get promoted,” he told Bloomberg. “The performance evaluation of income partners can be viewed as part of that bond we have with associates. Of course, if you’re going to be rational about evaluations, significant numbers will be in transition because we intend to continue to promote up associates and to drive a high-performance culture.”
Kalis also said that for some U.S. partners, the firm’s international growth strategy isn’t a good fit. A lot of those partners have “migrated away” and it’s still happening to some extent, he said. “Isn’t that to be expected?” he asked.
