Nichols yesterday. With more such donations from other law firms likely, Nichols said the school hopes to establish additional chairs in existing areas of study. In addition, Nichols said the school is investigating new areas of study that might be appropriate for endowed chairs.
Nichols said that Kirkland and Ellis chair, which will not be activated until the funding is complete five years from now, has not yet been assigned any specific area of focus because "the firm wants to be responsive to the school's needs. Kirkland and Ellis partner Daniel W. Vittum, Jr. Clark is not expected to organize a search committee for the post for several years, Nichols said the chair most likely would be in a "basic area," such as tax, constitutional or criminal law.
The Harvard endowment marked Kirkland and Ellis's third large gift to a major university in recent years. In , the firm funded a chair at the University of Chicago. Last fall, it established a chair at Northwestern University.
Gifts like that have made the firm "nationally prominent," Nichols said. Vittum said the firm's interest in legal education stems from its desire to repay a "debt of gratitude" to the nation's law schools.
This is our way of making their job easier. Everything we can do is in our advantage and the profession's advantage. Vittum added that his firm often recruits at Harvard, and said he believed that around 40 of Kirkland and Ellis's attorneys were Harvard Law graduates. According to N. Thompson said that Kirkland andEllis has "always come here to interview andhire. Want to keep up with breaking news? Subscribe to our email newsletter. By Eryn R.
