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Keller Rohrback

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Welcome to your new nightmare - Anonymous employee Keller Rohrback Employee Review

1.0
Jan 12, 2019
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Plaintiff-side work. Newer office and cafeteria area. Nice location. Gym in the building.

Cons

Attorneys: How would you like big law hours for boutique law pay? Be prepared to work minimum 1950 hours at a salary some paralegals wouldn’t take. And when I mean minimum, I mean if you’re tracking towards 1950 hours, your manager will ask you if you even want to work there. Bonuses and raises are comical. They won’t give you a sign-on bonus because they got burned once by someone who was smart enough to leave as soon as she could (and really, HR wasn’t smart enough to make a contingency). The pay is so abysmal that when you get a new job and overstate what you made at KR during negotiations, they will laugh at how low that is. Associates who’ve been there for years (some with kids!) work 12 hours and then go home, take a nap, wake up in the middle of the night and work more, take another nap, and then get their family ready for the day. That’s their everyday life. Then, the senior-most attorneys — who purport to be feminists who care about “all stages in women’s lives” — will leave at 4:45 and not do anything to make it possible for female associates to have work/life balance. If you're an attorney (even a partner!) who has worked there forever and put your hours in, but you make a mistake once, you'll get pulled from the big cases forever and everyone will gossip about it. It's insane. Staff: Run, don’t walk. Your managers will be some of the most underqualified, manipulative and childish people you will ever meet. Administration Management and HR are clueless and are quite happy staying that way. They’re constantly on vacation, they don’t address complaints and they hire/promote middle managers that have no idea what they’re doing. They will lie to your face to get what they want. They will waste hours of meeting time talking about nothing work related (e.g. talking about themselves or their kids in obsessive length, or picking up/having full non-emergency personal phone call conversations during meetings). Sorry, no one wants to hear about your 20th trip to Disneyland. You're an adult. And if you report to attorneys, life won’t be better. One partner went through several assistants in a year because of how abusive she is. Nobody does anything about it. Everyone thinks it’s just so funny. Paralegals and legal assistants: the crap will roll downhill. Get ready for constant pressure, thankless work and very long hours waiting to file. You’ll also work with arrogant and incompetent marketing management. You’ll have to write things for marketing (their job) and hound them for information they should be giving you without prompting. The website and client intake continues to be an absolute mess but of course they say it’s not “their fault” even though they’re in charge of it. It’s full of typos, broken forms and awful photos. How are you supposed to look like a professional firm to potential clients and judges? So embarrassing.

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Keller Rohrback Response
7y
As our clients and courts have recognized for decades, Keller Rohrback is a rare law firm. We combine steadfast commitment to our clients with outstanding writing and courtroom skill, fueled by a shared passion and integrity. Our model is special. Keller Rohrback strives to reward the skills and imagination of our employees to foster success. We attract and promote among the most talented attorneys and staff in the country, with the goal of having career-long relationships. We are not like many peer law firms whose business model may be premised on “burn and churn.” We invest in the people who make our practice work. Together we take pride in our remarkable successes, including in some of the most sought-after leadership roles in the most competitive, cutting-edge litigation in the country. In the Complex Litigation Department, we work in teams of legal assistants, paralegals, and attorneys to ensure the best results for our clients. We litigate against the most formidable opponents in courts across the country, which requires hard work, and puts us on the road, wherever the work takes us. We sometimes work long hours in service of achieving the best results possible for our clients. The type of work we do requires this and a passion for social justice. We respect everyone on the team, and we acknowledge the unique value each member brings. We are aware that our firm is not for everyone. If someone is looking for “Big Law,” with sky-high salaries, and where attrition may be part of the business model, and only a small percentage of associates are promoted to partner, we may not be the ideal fit. We invest in people, with the sincere hope that our associates become partners. Our associate salaries and sizable potential merit-bonuses are based on the reality that many litigation clients hire us on a contingent fee basis. Our work is not funded by major corporations -- indeed, these corporations are often our adversaries. If someone wants to build a career around talent, hard work, and shared values, we aim to help them thrive at Keller Rohrback. While we know we are not perfect (and no place is), the management strives to foster a welcoming workplace that empowers our employees to be forward thinking, and to help promote our firm culture that supports individual growth while collectively taking responsibility for maintaining a positive work environment. Our partners want to hear from our employees and each other. We have an open door, and a listening ear, and we welcome anyone’s questions and input. We sincerely thank you for your interest in Keller Rohrback, and if you’re already here, we look forward to hearing from you soon. Lynn Lincoln Sarko Managing Partner

Explore other reviews about Keller Rohrback

5.0
May 8, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Really value-driven work, amazing people, very understanding, supportive, and interested in my learning over the summer. Worked on a lot of interesting projects.

Cons

Seem understaffed so entry-level associates seem very busy around court dates but good work life balance otherwise.

2.0
May 18, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Generous with pay and benefits, some groups have super nice people, support available when overloaded, great tech resources and applications to get the job done.

Cons

Unfortunately the cons outweigh all the great things about this firm. They flat turn their back to bullying obnoxious behavior despite the revolving door of many staff positions in the firm. They encourage staff to take on those that are allowed to attack and belittle them completely on their own once efforts to talk to them have failed. They just give up and look the other way after so many complaints. There’s the door if you don’t like it. Management seems absent and doesn’t want to make those heavy decisions that other firms would make in a heartbeat. Fire the offenders. Keep your valuable assets that promote a good work experience and all would pay off in the long run. But not this firm, they would rather just keep hiring when folks can’t take the daily anxiety any longer and all that training and experience walks. Nope, their philosophy is NEXT! which only enables the behavior. Too bad. It could be such a great place otherwise.

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Keller Rohrback Response
2y
Thank you for your candid feedback. I’m sorry that your experience at Keller Rohrback L.L.P. did not match our intention to provide you with a positive work environment. Creating the best connection within teams can be challenging at times. We strive to tackle issues in the moment to improve our Firm’s culture and approach to working in teams so that everyone can be successful and feel supported and valued at our Firm. Sometimes, it can take time for improvements to be evident while we work confidentially to solve issues. We are proud that most of our employees have been with our Firm for several years, thriving and enjoying a positive culture and work/life balance, with recent turnover focused on retirement and hiring due to growth. We will endeavor to do better. I wish you great success in your next position.
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