Ashley's Career Story

The Firm is full of talented, bright legal minds. We have clients who expect a lot from us, and we have to deliver that. It’s a rewarding experience to challenge yourself to meet that level of excellence on a daily basis. In the Los Angeles office, there is a lot of collaboration between partners and associates. It’s an exciting and dynamic environment with countless opportunities for early responsibility.

Kirkland takes training very seriously. The Kirkland Institute of Trial Advocacy (KITA) is the flagship training program. Every year, associates from across the country travel to Chicago or D.C. to participate in a multi-day mock trial. We’re critiqued and reviewed by senior partners at the Firm who have significant trial experience, and there are actors hired to play witnesses and jurors. The training you get in that environment allows you to feel confident when you walk into an actual courtroom. I don’t know of any other firm with such a robust training program.

More so than any of our peer firms, we give substantive opportunities to junior associates to do real work. As a first-year associate, I cross-examined a direct witness at trial, and as a second-year associate, I cross-examined two direct witnesses at trial. I’ve had the opportunity to take deposition. I’ve had regular client contact from day one.

The Firm has a true commitment to pro bono work. In my pro bono practice, I have worked on several cases helping convert under-achieving schools in California into independent charter schools so parents have more control over their children’s educations. We recently negotiated a successful public-private partnership conversion for a school in the L.A. Unified School District. The school has since shown the most improved math scores in its entire district. I’m very proud of that work.

At Kirkland, I have learned how to push myself. The level of support from the Firm has been instrumental in helping me learn how to find balance in my personal and professional lives. We’re better lawyers when we have that balance.