Jon A Ballis Kirkland & Ellis19 Years Ranked. Kirkland in particular has never cared to explain itself as it offered pro athlete-sized pay packages to lure lawyers from partnerships that used to last a lifetime. He promised them more control over their futures, and doubled or tripled their salaries. Hammes has overseen period of huge growth for Kirkland Kirkland & Ellis Chair Jeffrey Hammes will step down early in 2020, and will be replaced by partner Jon Ballis, an internal firm memo provided to Bloomberg Law shows. The rest have been forced to pay their most important lawyers more money so they wont be plucked away. Today, only two major law firms maintain a pure lockstep model. The firms hiring strategy acknowledges the bargaining power junior lawyers now hold. The surge in demand has forced Kirkland into a hiring binge during a year in which the 50 largest firms saw compensation costs soar 16.5%, according to Citi Private Bank. How well you contribute to Kirklands overall success is now what drives compensation decisions, firm leaders say. We are seeking an attorney to join our commercial finance practice in either our Stamford, Hartford or New Haven offices. And it shaved a year off how long it takes before lawyers are considered for the life-changing status of holding shares in Kirklands profits. Kirkland has discovered they can hire very good, younger lawyers from other firms who work out as very good lawyers on Kirkland matters. To Hammes, it meant young, talented partners could feel stymied. The old math was: one partner has a book of business. Big Law firms are facing a retention crisis and Kirkland is no exception. We have a system that demands a lot from people, gives them a lot of responsibility, and requires people to work together, Ballis said. Gain access to some of the most knowledgeable and experienced attorneys with our 2 bundle options! Please refresh the page and try again later. Rival firm leaders had questioned whether he would continue Kirklands aggressive hiring strategy. Kirkland and its peers have shifted the stakes in New York over the last decade and forced Wall Street firms with lockstep systems to fend off new and fierce competition from out of town. The partner had difficulty bringing in clients that others deemed too smalland he said he didnt get any credit for agreeing to pass up those opportunities. Theres no sign Kirkland or other Big Law firms will be asking their lawyers to work less. Up-and-coming Cravath partner Sarkis Jebejian, whose client list includes Accenture, Bain Capital and Northrop Grumman, joined Kirkland in 2012, followed by Jonathan Davis in 2016 and Eric Schiele in 2018. Jon Ballis . Lawyers profile | USA 2022: Corporate/M&A: Private Equity, Intellectual Property: Trademark, Copyright & Trade Secrets, Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations. Kirkland, along with some other out-of-town firms like Sidley Austin and Latham & Watkins, has used aggressive lateral recruiting to draw from New Yorks dealmaking talent pool. Kirklands restructuring practice exploded. Jon Ballis's email address j*****@kirkland.com 312560.. | Show email & phone number >>> Rocketreach finds email, phone & social media for 450M+ professionals. Jon has long been recognized as one of the leading private equity attorneys in the United States by major legal publications. It says attrition grew 50% from a more normal 2019 to 2021, and that the poaching by other law firms is indicative of the value that Kirkland experience adds to a lawyers resume. But theres good reason to believe the firm did even better in 2021, considering that it set a record for activity levels in its M&A practice, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. As a high school senior, Ballis captained the Highland Park High School basketball team to a 1-23 record. Were Goldman Sachs or McKinsey of the law firm world. But now, Ballis finds that dangling eight-figure paychecks and the allure of doing billions of dollars worth of deals for private equity heavyweights like Bain Capital doesnt always cut it. Law firm Kirkland & Ellis, in one of downtown's largest office leases in years, said Monday it will move to the Salesforce Tower Chicago under construction at Wolf Point. New private equity funds formed to take advantage of distressed opportunities. Theres no sign Kirkland or other Big Law firms will be asking their lawyers to work less. Ballis joined Kirkland after a recruiting lunch at the Mid-America Club atop Chicagos 83-floor Aon Building with Jeff Hammes. You see what type of lawyer he is and you want to be that.. To contact the reporter on this story: Meghan Tribe in New York at mtribe@bloomberglaw.com; Roy Strom in Chicago at rstrom@bloomberglaw.com, To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rebekah Mintzer at rmintzer@bloomberglaw.com; Tom P. Taylor at ttaylor@bloomberglaw.com. Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided. Debevoise Is Ready, Napoli Shkolnik Sues Own Attorney, Alleging 'Quiet Quitting', 'It Was Every Lawyers Nightmare': Florida Attorney Faces $2.3M Verdict Against Him. Chicago, IL 60601 Brian F Richards Paul Hastings LLP16 Years Ranked. He eliminated the concept of billing partners who earn credit for work done by clients they brought into the fold. Jon Ballis is Chairman of the Executive Committee of Kirkland & Ellis, one of the world's leading law firms with 6,500 professionals (including more than 3,000 attorneys) around the world committed to the highest quality legal advice and unparalleled client service. About; Map. Listen to Roy Strom read his story. He has long been recognized as one of the leading private equity attorneys in the United States, with Chambers USA recognizing him in every edition since 2004 and The Best Lawyers in America listing him in every edition since 2006. During his career, Jon has handled matters on behalf of many of the leading private equity firms in the country, including Bain, Blackstone, Centerbridge, Cerberus, Hellman & Friedman, KKR, Madison Dearborn, Pritzker Group, Silver Lake, TPG, and Thomas H. Lee. Ballis graduated with a Soviet studies major from Lehigh University in 1991, took out loans to go to Harvard Law School, and returned to Chicago to work at Sidley Austin. The demands of billing 2,500 to 3,000 hours a year, though, has come at a cost. Working at Wachtell, a firm founded in 1965 on a handshake,"still pays handsomely. She joined from Cravath, which paid its average partner $4.6 million that year, data compiled by The American Lawyer show. Jon A. Ballis took charge at Kirkland & Ellis 68 days before the pandemic was declared. If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for $69 per month. When he departed from the role, at least six of the firms global management committee members joined Kirkland from rival firms. One former share partner said it didnt ring true that Kirkland had quietly transformed into a collaborators dream. Access to additional free ALM publications, 1 free article* across the ALM subscription network every 30 days, Exclusive discounts on ALM events and publications, Brought to you by Temple University Beasley School of Law. But Kirkland was No. Capital markets lawyers went into overtime helping companies raise debt to survive. I hate the term book of business.. In those early days, Jeff sometimes had to threaten the loss of shares to promote good team work. Missing Crain's in print? He led the opening of Kirklands Boston office in 2017 and has helped recruit key partners. The potential hire demurred, telling Ballis she wasnt planning to leave her firm. Soon after he became Kirklands chairman in 2020, Ballis remembers, he tried to woo a partner from a rival firm in London. Its an important job for law firms these days, and especially for the firm that last year handled more M&A deals than anybody. on Twitter, Navigate to map location for Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Call Kirkland & Ellis LLP at 312-862-2000, Visit the website for Kirkland & Ellis LLP, https://www.kirkland.com/lawyers/b/ballis-jon-a-pc. 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Jons passion and commitment to excellence carries into his philanthropic activities and board positions. Kirkland opened offices in Austin, Texas, and Salt Lake City, Utah, just to access people in places where they were already living. You can still enjoy your subscription until the end of your current billing period. The 5'6" point guard was known for passing and out-working everybody on the court, according to his high school teammate, Jon Gray, who is now a client and chief operating officer at Blackstone Inc., one of the largest alternative investment management companies in the world. Both options are priced the same. From 2009 to 2019, the firms revenue increased 11.5% per year on average while its profits per equity partner rose 7.6%, the American Lawyer reported. Melissa Hutson, a member of Kirklands executive committee, said Kirkland has hired a dozen senior women and diverse partners recently. So for the first time, he wants to address head-on the thing he thinks is limiting Kirkland from reaching even greater heights: Too many recruits think his firm is a den of wolves, where sharp-elbowed lawyers work grueling hours while looking out for their own good. Chairman, Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Our Compliance bundles are curated by CLE Counselors and include current legal topics and challenges within the industry. . Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the Settings & Account section. And thats how I know that this reputational thing is a problem.. * Kirkland & Ellis will have a new leader soon, but that doesn't mean the firm's lateral hiring spree will end. If Ballis can replicate those growth rates over another 10-year period, hed be leading a law firm thats bringing in more than $14 billion a year and paying its average shareholding partner more than $10 million a year. I hate the term book of business.. 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