Present Hiring Landscape for Chicago Law Firms
Keeping tabs on the legal job market? These are the most recent legal professionals Chicago law firms are interested in hiring:
Legal Assistants – Chicago legal assistants are on the rise. There is a heavy demand for legal assistants specializing in Chicago’s extensive areas of legal practice, including family law, and real estate. Legal assistants serve as the main support link between clients and attorneys, drafting legal documents, preparing legal correspondence, and handling administrative tasks such as billing in a timely manner, and coordinating and scheduling meetings and appointments with clients.
Legal Secretaries – Legal secretaries are functionally similar to legal administrative assistants. Legal secretaries at Chicago law firms work to support all lawyers in a firm. Their duties include drafting legal briefs and pleadings, proofing and editing documents, and maintaining accurate records of client accounts and transactions. Legal secretaries also often perform general administrative work such as filing documents and maintaining office supply inventories .
Paralegals – Paralegals work to support lawyers in Chicago law firms. Paralegals perform necessary legal work for clients and lawyers for pending cases and transactions. Lawyers in Chicago law firms rely heavily on the support services of paralegals to help expedite cases through the legal system and make the legal work done for their clients more profitable. Paralegals conduct legal research, write legal briefs, pleadings and motions, create and organize case files and other related legal documents and materials, and they assist in trial preparations by organizing exhibits, managing trial equipment, and drafting deposition summaries. Paralegals are also responsible for the drafting of legwork and paperwork for corporate acquisitions, and commercial and real estate transactions for clients.
The greater metropolitan area of Chicago is expected to add an estimated 1,000 jobs for paralegals through 2024. With new law firms popping up in the Loop and a high demand for Chicago paralegals specializing in family, business and commercial law, chances are that the growth in paralegal jobs in Chicago is likely to continue for some time to come.
Chicago Law Firms With Open Positions
Kirkland & Ellis: Technology transactions and M&A are two huge and successful components of the Kirkland & Ellis business. In 2015, M&A revenue at Kirkland & Ellis was $2.3 billion. Kirkland is the largest law firm in Chicago, employing over 932 lawyers according to The National Law Journal. Kirkland has won awards for many aspects of its business, including winning the Chambers USA Law Firm of the Year award for corporate work on seven occasions. Kirkland is currently hiring for its technology transactions practice.
Sidley Austin: Recently cited by the American Lawyer as one of the leading law firms in the United States based upon firm revenue, Sidley Austin’s Chicago office was ranked as the top Midwest corporate firm by Mergermarket, impacting the impact of both the firm’s M&A and M&A high yield bond practices. Sidley’s Chicago office is another one of the largest law offices in the City of Chicago with over 2,000 lawyers employed, according to The National Law Journal. Sidley is seeking to fill a partner position in its capital markets department.
Clyde & Co: Clyde & Co has continued to grow and thrive in the last few years after opening its Chicago office in 2010. Clyde & Co recently opened its first office in Haugesund, Norway (located on the country’s west coast). Clyde & Co specializes primarily in the marine industry and the Chicago office’s work has been incorporated into the firm’s international network. Clyde & Co recently garnered attention in the press for a $62 million loss that occurred recently while the law firm was defending a transport company in Sierra Leone. Clyde & Co is seeking to add a financial services litigation associate to its Chicago office.
Reed Smith: The Reed Smith Chicago office was founded in 1999 and currently employs 114 lawyers. The firm focuses its Chicago office on the types of industries that make up the City of Chicago (healthcare, manufacturing, and transportation), offering a range of services to such industries. Reed Smith recently announced that Chicago-based Chief Finance Officer Stephen Harvey resigned from the firm to become the CFO at Winston & Strawn. Reed Smith is seeking to add a senior level partner to its commercial litigation team.
Skills Required To Succeed in Legal Positions
For aspiring legal professionals, the skills needed will depend largely on the specific position in which they are applying, but there are core skills that broadly apply to most positions available in the legal industry. These skills include:
Hard Skills
A strong grasp of the law is obviously important for almost all positions within the legal sector, but perhaps equally as important is a practical understanding of the business world in which they operate. A basic understanding of the different elements of a business, and how those elements can work together and against each other, can help solve many legal problems while adding insight and value to their organization as a whole. A strong command of the English language is another prerequisite for many legal employees. Those in customer-focused positions will be expected to communicate confidently and effectively with clientele, while other positions require that employees be able to read and comprehend complicated contracts and documents.
Soft Skills
Legal personnel will often work with other employees and clientele simultaneously, therefore an aptitude for negotiating and conflict resolution is critical—particularly in the field of business litigation. Exactly how these skills are executed varies, but this can mean anything from decisive and firm negotiation for desired outcomes to mediating disputes with third parties and finding compromises between clients and their altercations with the law. Interpersonal skills are another area of importance for those hoping to be hired with a legal representation firm. In many cases, it may be necessary to discuss sensitive information or manage delicate matters. Legal professionals should be able to do so with discretion and at an appropriate level of formality.
How To Apply For Legal Positions
Applying to law school is a challenge, but there are still hurdles to jump after graduation. Law firms have become highly selective in their hiring process with a firm preference for students graduating in the top ten percent of their class. While the criteria can vary from firm to firm, most law firm hiring committees will take a pass on less than stellar resumes. With this in mind, applicants can take heart in the fact that all sorts of career paths are represented in any law firm. Most law firms take a more idiosyncratic approach to those they wish to interview for open positions. As law firms do not use application forms, applicants are advised to produce a killer resume and create a cover letter sophisticated enough to entice the reader into a meeting. As with all resumes, your employment history should not be in any chronological order. Sections are preferred, listing relevant training, volunteer experience, extracurricular activities and legal studies. It is also useful to include information about your legal education, interests, pursuits and rewards garnered while in law school. Your cover letter should be targeted to those firms where you would like to work. Including irrelevant information will only hurt your chances of landing that dream job . Applicants are advised to do their homework and tailor their cover letter accordingly. Interviewing is by far the most critical step in landing a position as a law clerk or associate. Almost as critical as having an impressive resume, is the ability to interview well. Interviewing for a law firm is very different from a job interview in another setting. Most attorneys enjoy talking—after all that is what they are paid to do. Lawyers tend to look wistfully into the distance after someone else has talked for a while, but when the tide turns and the interviewer(s) are doing the talking, it is up to the applicant to listen intently to what they are saying. This is the time to gauge what the firm is looking for and how you can fit into the bigger picture. From there, applicants can go to great lengths to figure out if the firm is right for them. Some law firms have created a picture of the ideal candidate and will no doubt take their cue from that. Applicants should walk through the office, asking questions and making themselves available should the urge to talk overcome those conducting the interview. In this way, applicants can often find out much more about their potential employer and vice versa.
Networking For Legal Professionals
In the competitive world of legal employment, we know that networking is critical to your success – and that it’s particularly important to do this early in your career and while you’re still in law school. In our last few posts, we’ve discussed upcoming opportunities to network through Chicago’s local legal associations. Expanding on this idea, below are several upcoming opportunities to connect with people in the legal industry – whether it’s through a formal group or an informal get together: Chicago Bar Associations: The Cook County Bar Association, The Illinois State Bar Association and The Women’s Bar Association of Illinois hold regular networking events. For a comprehensive listing, we recommend MyBarPage.com, a networking platform dedicated to connecting Chicago-area lawyers and legal professionals. Meetup.com: With events all over Chicago, Meetup is another official way to connect with legal professionals – as well as groups that intersect with the legal sector, including business and networking groups. Online: Additionally, it’s worthwhile to build up your online presence with a well-curated professional social media account (try Twitter or LinkedIn) and to keep in view the hashtags that are used – particularly in Chicago – in the legal industry. Some popular hashtags to watch include: #ILlawjobs, #lawjobchicago and #lawyerfeed. As a bonus, the LawyerFeed app notifies you about relevant law jobs in your area and the #lawyerfeed hashtag on Twitter sources articles to help you stay on top of industry news. There are countless ways to network as a future lawyer, so it pays to be resourceful – and have an open mind! Whether these connections result in a potential job opportunity or simply a greater understanding of the industry, in any case they can lead you to future opportunities.
Getting Ready For Legal Positions
For those looking to launch a legal career in the Windy City, whether new graduates or experienced professionals seeking to shift into a legal role, several opportunities exist to help achieve your career goals. First and foremost, of course, would be the attainment of a law degree. As with any advanced degree, specific areas of study make candidates more valuable to law firms, both in terms of salary and job prospects. In addition to having a solid background in the fundamentals of various branches of law, whether criminal, corporate, immigration, patent or intellectual property, aspiring candidates should look to specialize in an area where they have particular passion and advanced knowledge.
However, while the legal education portion may seem like the most crucial step to becoming a lawyer, jobs require much more than just a law degree. Impressive credentials are important of course, but potential employers are also interested in industry experience and the applicant’s proficiency in research, writing and analytical skills . As such, it is important for students and aspiring legal professionals to start thinking about internships as soon as possible. For example, students in their first year at the University of Chicago Law School must complete a summer job before returning for their second year. Additionally, summer jobs can lead to greater opportunities as individuals embark on their legal careers full time following their graduations.
Beyond academic qualifications and internships, applicants can also enhance their knowledge of the legal industry by tapping into local resources. Chicago is an influential hub for some of the nation’s biggest law firms, making it a hot market for potential applicants. By taking full advantage of internships, applicants can gain insights and make connections that will come in handy both during the job search process and once they are hired. Networking can also occur through a number of professional associations around the city, including the daily legal newspaper, the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, which has a weekly new member orientation to better help those interested in the industry.