Profiles
John M. O'Bryan - Of Counsel
I chose Lovells because I wanted to work at an international firm with a strong litigation practice. I concentrate on commercial litigation, and what I particularly enjoy about Lovells is the opportunity it provides me to guide foreign-based clients through a court system that is usually very different from their home jurisdictions. Also, the firm's international footprint makes it ideally suited to represent American companies in the type of complex, international disputes that I enjoy litigating. This, combined with the professional, team-oriented approach of the Lovells attorneys, makes it a great place to work in Chicago
David Reed - Paralegal
Just a little over five years ago I was working for a legal recruiting firm placing paralegals in temporary and permanent positions at law firms when I got a call from Lovells. They were looking for a paralegal for their Reinsurance practice in their Chicago office. I did some research on the firm and quickly decided that I myself would be an ideal candidate for them. The firm seemed to me at that time to be a vibrant and open environment full of smart, energetic and fun people. Fast forward the five years in between and I still feel that I made an excellent decision.
Since I started, our practice has grown and changed. In addition to bringing in new associates and adding new partners, we have added five additional paralegals to our team. As a group we provide our attorneys with support in everything from building and maintaining complex electronic document databases and repositories to clerical support where needed.
My role has transformed over the years from strictly a legal assistant into more of a manager. Along with my billable work and case related responsibilities, I provide the paralegal staff with assistance and direction in their individual case loads. The thing that I enjoy most about my job is working with the paralegal team which is comprised of a group of motivated professionals, who, despite their excellent work ethic, like to have a good time.
As Lovells Chicago office continues to change and grow, I look forward to playing a key role in our development. We are looking forward to improving our litigation support capabilities and to continue building and training our excellent paralegal staff.
Peter Steffen - Associate
I joined Lovells in 2001 upon my graduation from law school. I had spent one summer during law school as a summer associate at Lovells and it had all of the qualities I was looking for in a law firm: complex work, interesting colleagues, and reasonable expectations of how lawyers should balance their career with their life outside the firm. Since then, my initial impressions have proven true.
As a young associate, I have been particularly impressed by the firm's willingness to grant significant responsibility to junior lawyers. Early in my career, I was given the opportunity to handle the day-to-day activities of cases, including depositions and reporting to clients. During my second year, I was working on a case that had reached a federal court of appeals. One of my proudest moments as a lawyer was showing my family my name in the Federal Reporter because a partner had graciously included my name on the brief. There are few firms that handle similarly complex commercial litigation and yet offer these kinds of opportunities.
Obviously, one characteristic that sets Lovells apart from many firms in the US is the opportunity to work on cases that have an international aspect. I have been fortunate to have the chance to work with foreign clients and travel to Europe and Asia. As anyone familiar with business travel knows, this is not as glamorous as it might sound, but for a US lawyer, it has been a fascinating and unique experience. I believe Lovells will continue to provide its associates a challenging and enjoyable career in the years ahead.
Kay Wilde - Partner
For the most part, I have always been interested in law. It was a career choice that captured what I was good at and what I enjoyed; using logic to pry arguments apart. After graduating from law school in 1989, I worked for two different Chicago law firms specializing in insurance coverage litigation and advisory work. In 1995, I moved in-house to an insurance company and worked on reinsurance claims issues.
I knew several people at Lovells and I eventually joined as Of Counsel in 1997. I liked everyone that I had met during the interview process and made sure to meet them twice, just to be certain. I had been at firms in the past where getting to know your colleagues was not necessarily a high priority and I wanted to make sure that this was not the case at Lovells. I was happy to observe a high level of respect within the Lovells office and I was impressed with the quality work.
When I first joined, I was not particularly focused on becoming a partner. As an associate at other firms, I had seen partners often working against each other for their own self interest. After three years at Lovells, though, my opinion of partnership changed. I saw the sense of team work and camaraderie among the partners, attorneys, and staff, and in 2001, I was elected to the partnership. It wasn't the drastic change that may be expected from taking on such a position. I certainly had more responsibility; however, even as Of Counsel, I had been expected to assist in business development initiatives and perform high quality work.
I appreciate the importance of having a work-life balance and while I need to be organized, Lovells allows me to make time for other interests, such as golf, charitable work, friends, and family. I believe that having outside interests makes for a more dynamic and interesting person and therefore a better attorney.
I've now been a partner at Lovells for six years and what has kept me here is the mutual respect that exists between partners, associates, and staff, as well as the interesting and challenging work.
Elizabeth Koehn - 2007 Summer Associate
I was excited to accept a summer associate position at Lovells for the summer of 2007. Right away I could tell that it was an environment that provided challenging work, encouraged learning through teamwork, and respected a healthy balance between a professional career and life outside of the office.
The lawyers at Lovells are not only intelligent and experienced but they are also great teachers. Every time I turned in an assignment, the assigning attorney gave me substantive feedback on my work. This demonstrated that they wanted me to learn and improve, not to just complete the work.
The cultivation of learning carried on in other forms. As a summer associate I was invited to participate in all of the attorney training programs and attorney meetings. I was provided with a weekly writing tutor to help improve my research and writing skills. Lovells even sent all of the summer associates to London for two weeks to work from the firm’s headquarters.
As a summer associate I worked on a variety of different projects. I helped a partner prepare a presentation for an American Conference Institute event, helped prepare pleadings and research for a pro bono client and performed various other research tasks. It provided a realistic preview of what a first year associate could expect. At the end of the summer I had completed a great portfolio of my own work product that I was proud of.
More than anything, I came to understand how valuable it is to work in a friendly and team-oriented atmosphere, where attorneys and staff have mutual respect for one another. I don’t think I could have asked for a better professional experience and I truly look forward to starting at Lovells as an associate next fall.