Jenner & Block Reviews

Long hours, stressful work environment, poor management (at least where I worked), micromanaging bosses. If you're not into kissing you-know-what, you won't succeed. They have a reputation for working people "to death," and it's true. I say it sucks the soul right out of you because anytime you think you're doing well, someone will find a way to knock you down again. I never felt like I had a chance to succeed, and eventually I believed that I never would.

The hours are brutal and the culture is awful. Everyone is out for themselves. When mistakes happen they are more interested in blame shifting then simply fixing the issue and moving on. They have raised their rates to the point that clients are leaving in droves. Management is more interested in increasing partner salariy ratios then in staying economically competitive with other firms. It's a terrible business model that is destined to fail. How are they supposed to bring in new business when the clients scoff at their billable rates. They also use contract and staff attorneys in place of associates as a work around cost saving measure. Clients are expecting the best of the best, not attorneys that either were fired from other firms for incompetence or a "C's get degrees' law school graduate. Ultimately when they screw up they blame a member of the staff to save their jobs. You go to Jenner to work with the very best and if they can't or rather won't accommodate a clients budget they either lose the business or go to their C team. It's a lose lose situation. If you want to bring in clients you need to be economically competitive and offer the very best, in this case they don't do either. The last few years the firm has been involved in large scale investigations for Lehmam Brothers and GM which have artificially enlarged the profit margin but it's not telling the true story. Overall business is down because clients can get the same level of service for better rates elsewhere.