Legal Recruiters Say Kirkland & Ellis May Lay Off 15 or More Attorneys

Legal recruiters in Chicago who have been hearing from Kirkland attorneys looking for work say the big-name firm is planning layoffs in its Chicago headquarters.

"Kirkland & Ellis is edging some senior associates and income partners toward the door as part of its regular annual evaluation process, perhaps being carried out with a bit more gusto given the difficult economic times," reports the National Law Journal.

About 15 non-equity "income" partners may have been asked to leave. Although a number of those laid-off apparently are based in Chicago, it isn't clear that all of them are.

As indicated in an earlier ABAJournal.com post, the layoffs were first reported by Above the Law.

The law firm hasn't commented. It isn't alone in apparently trimming its roster of non-equity partners in reaction to the troubled economic times: other Chicago-based international firms that have done so within the past few years include Jenner & Block; Mayer Brown and Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, the National Law Journal notes.