Kirkland & Ellis
Kirkland & Ellis LLP is an international law firm based in Chicago. The main focus lies in the United States, especially in the areas of private equity, restructuring and intellectual property rights.
In the nine offices worldwide, more than 1600 lawyers.
History
In 1908, the attorneys Stewart G. Shepard and Robert R. McCormick joined forces in Chicago. McCormick, grandson of Joseph Medill, founder of the Chicago Tribune, left the firm in 1920 and worked as a publisher of this newspaper.
Weymouth Kirkland, which had begun in 1915 in the firm advised and represented then the Chicago Tribune and other newspapers, especially in cases of personal rights. He and Howard Ellis, who joined the firm in the same year as Kirkland jointly written history in the field of newspaper law, as Ellis the right to " objective criticism " defense, which in the U.S. law is a basic component of freedom of speech today. The renowned criminal defense Hammond E. Chaffetz joined the law firm in 1938 and contributed significantly to its growth.
Over the years, the original name of law firm " Shepard & McCormick " changed several times, until finally in 1972 the name of Kirkland & Ellis established. Kirkland & Ellis now consults worldwide clients in M & A and private equity transactions, intellectual property law, restructurings and tax law and represents it well in national and international litigation.
Locations of the company
Today in Chicago more than 690 lawyers. In the U.S. capital Washington, D.C. are more than 175 attorneys working. The law firm in Los Angeles grew in a short period of five to a hundred lawyers. There also Kenneth Starr, the special prosecutor of the so-called Whitewater affair to Bill Clinton, as an of counsel. In the young offices in New York and San Francisco, more than 340 or 100 lawyers. The skyscraper Swiss Re Tower ( " Gherkin" ) is home to the London office, which began with two American partners. Today there over 80 lawyers advise their clients. In the Munich firm employs around 25 lawyers. With the Hong Kong office Kirkland & Ellis is now also present in Asia. In August 2008 the company opened an office in Palo Alto in Silicon Valley. 15 lawyers working there mainly in the areas of private equity and intellectual property law.
Social Commitment
In 1982, the law firm, the Foundation Kirkland & Ellis Foundation. Non-profit organizations that primarily take care of a good legal advice and to the improvement of health, family and cultural life environment of disadvantaged people are so financially supported by the firm.
At the same time, the law firm lawyers in the U.S. and in London in need and nonprofit organizations offer free advice as part of its pro bono program.