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Illinois In Brief
Illinois In Brief
Who’s Who Legal Illinois has identified more than 500 of the state’s finest practitioners in 22 practice areas, with the overwhelming majority based in Chicago. Our findings include individuals from boutique firms, national firms and large international players.Several ingredients create the vitality in Illinois’s legal market. Twenty-seven Fortune 500 companies are headquartered there, making it attractive and prosperous for the local legal market and an increasingly important city in the global legal market. Firms are attracted by the possibility of drawing talent from a pool of respected law schools, many of them ranked among the highest in the US. Many of the lawyers featured in this book graduated from and teach at Northwestern University, the University of Chicago Law School, Loyola University Chicago School of Law or DePaul University College of Law.
Associate compensation is another reason many firms recruit and retain talent in Illinois. Although escalation in the ‘salary wars’ may have provoked many of Chicago’s largest firms to match the increases of New York and Los Angeles competitors, mid-sized firms have not bought into wage inflation en masse. According to our research, Chicago remains an “eminently liveable city” where lower costs, greater convenience, good local government and a thriving cultural and arts scene combine to attract employers such as law firms.
Chicago is also a significant market for insurance and reinsurance work. Insurers played a vital role in rebuilding the city after the catastrophic fire of 1871 and in financing the exponential growth of the city and protecting its industries throughout the twentieth century into the present. Two Fortune 500 insurers are based in the Chicago area: Aon Corporation and the Allstate Insurance Company. Insurance companies support around a tenth of the state’s workforce, making it one of the most important local industries. With 40 lawyers from 21 firms, insurance and reinsurance is the largest chapter in Who’s Who Legal: Illinois.
In the legal context, investment funds constitute perhaps Chicago’s greatest and most fashionable export. One Chicago attorney is credited by many in the industry as being the “godfather of private equity law”: Kirkland & Ellis’ Jack Levin. As a young lawyer, Levin took charge of the firm’s single venture capital client back in the early 1970s; the industry has since grown and diversified beyond expectations, with several hundred billion dollars invested in the US market alone. Although it may have been eclipsed by offshore jurisdictions, Chicago is home to a thriving investment fund market – second only to New York in the US. Firms continue to expand their capabilities in this area, joining the well-established practices to compete for a slice of the action.
In recent years, change in the Chicago legal market has occurred at a pace. Some firms have sought to expand their client bases through so-called ‘mega-mergers’ – acquiring global reach and ready-made practices in a single move; others have made strategic acquisitions of boutiques or engaged in volumes of lateral hires, so adding international reach. At the same time national firms headquartered outside Illinois have wanted to build in Chicago through key lateral hires and ‘natural’ internal promotion. Using the 22 practice areas we studied as a lens, it is possible to say certain firms stand out. We will look in detail at those firms here.
Editorial
Editorial: Illinois
Editorial: Corporate Tax in Illinois
Illinois is a significant area for corporate tax law and is home to some exceptional talent. The research for this chapter has identified 23 leaders in the field from 10 firms.
Editorial: Environment in Illinois
The research for this chapter identifies 36 highly rated environment experts from 18 firms. The practice of environment law is, however, diverse, with experts offering advice to clients on transactional, litigation and regulatory matters.
Editorial: Franchise in Illinois
Illinois is known for its prosperous business climate for franchising. An important factor in its success is the Franchise Disclosure Act administered by the franchise bureau of the Attorney General’s Office.
Editorial: Insolvency and Restructuring in Illinois
Even in times of relative economic prosperity, companies will often need to call upon the expertise of their outside counsel in restructuring matters, and in some cases in bankruptcy proceedings. The following pages point out 19 outstanding lawyers, all leaders in their particular field, whether they are representing creditors, debtors or other related parties.
Editorial: Insurance and Reinsurance in Illinois
Over the years, the insurance industry has played a significant role in shaping Chicago’s physical and economic landscape.
Profiled Firms
Firm Profiles: Illinois
Baker & McKenzie LLP
The international powerhouse of Baker & McKenzie LLP was founded in Chicago in 1949. From humble beginnings of four lawyers and a secretary, the firm now has over 3,000 lawyers and worldwide revenues of more than US$1 billion.
DLA Piper LLP
DLA Piper LLP earns its place among the top firms in Illinois – we include 22 of its Chicago partners. The research reveals a firm that excels in specialist areas of the law. Partners appear in a relatively small number of practice areas – seven in total - and this focus allows them to be counted as “undoubtedly the best in town” for certain work.
Jenner & Block LLP
Jenner & Block LLP has grown from a small partnership formed in 1914, to a Chicago powerhouse with 400 lawyers working from four US locations.
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP has a 14 strong contingent in this publication.
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Nearing its centennial year of practice, Chicago firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP has long been a formidable presence in Illinois and for a while now beyond that legal market.
Focus On Corporate Counsel
Corporate Counsel Q&A: Illinois
Illinois Corporate Counsel: Cameron Findlay
Executive vice president and general counsel, Aon Corporation
Founded in 1919 and headquartered in Chicago, Aon Corporation is one of the world’s largest providers of insurance brokerage, risk management and human capital consulting, with 46,000 employees working in 500 offices in 120 countries. In the past 20 years, acquisition and internal development have catapulted Aon to its current position of market dominance, beginning in 1982 with the acquisition of the merged entity comprising Ryan Insurance Group and Combined International, followed by Hudig Langeveldt, Rollins Burdick Hunter, Miller Mason & Dickenson and Alexander & Alexander (among others).
Illinois Corporate Counsel: Marschall Smith
Vice president, general counsel, corporate secretary and director of legal, Brunswick
Swiss immigrant John Brunswick began manufacturing billiard tables in 1845. Today, the company that bears his name retains its core billiard table division, but has achieved wider recognition in the prestige leisure products market. Technological innovations have played a large part in the success of the business: Brunswick is responsible for the first mineralite bowling ball, marketed in 1906, and the development of the revolutionary Brunswick Automatic Pinsetting device in 1956. Since then, Brunswick has grown to become one of the world’s leading manufacturers of pleasure boats, marine engines, GPS and navigation technology, and bowling and fitness equipment. It is a Fortune 500 company with headquarters in Lake Forest, Illinois.
Illinois Corporate Counsel: Paul Lovejoy
Senior vice president, general counsel and secretary, United Airlines
Founded in 1926 as Boeing Air Transport, United Airlines is one of the largest international carriers based in the US, operating thousands of domestic and international routes daily from its hubs in Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, DC. February 2006 marked an important milestone for the company, which emerged from chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, in the longest and largest airline bankruptcy case in history (filed on 9 December 2002 in the aftermath of losses incurred following the September 11 terrorist attacks). It has a fleet of 460 aircraft, with global air rights in Asia-Pacific, Europe and Latin America.