Outsourcing Practice Group of Kirkland & Ellis Honored
The Outsourcing Practice Group at Kirkland & Ellis LLP has been recognized for its achievements in the 2009 Black Book of Outsourcing by Brown-Wilson Group and Black Book Research, and included in the list of The World's Best Outsourcing Advisors by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals™ (IAOP™).
The 2009 Black Book of Outsourcing ranked Kirkland as one of its "Top Tier Legal Advisors." Each year, Brown-Wilson Group and Black Book Research conduct a survey of more than 400 corporations to assess their satisfaction with outsourcing service providers and advisors. The advisory firms are evaluated on 20 performance areas and then ranked. Across the board, Kirkland received the greatest number of top scores per category and ranked second overall on the list.
According to the publication, Kirkland was recognized for "helping clients negotiate the full range of strategic sourcing transactions, shorten the sourcing cycle, speed the realization of benefits and design lasting solutions that effectively support their strategic and operational objectives."
Kirkland's highest scores were garnered in the significant performance areas of: legal advisor outsourcing experience; industry-specific outsourcing qualifications; legal spectrum of category-specific functions; legal governance and service management solutions; breadth of experience through sourcing lifecycle; trust, reliability and confidentiality; and speed and efficiency of engagement deployment.
"It is an honor to be named to this prestigious list," said Gregg Kirchhoefer, Kirkland Outsourcing Practice Group. "We are very pleased to be recognized for our experience and client service among other leaders in the outsourcing industry."
Kirkland's Outsourcing Practice Group was also honored by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals for their work in the industry. IAOP announced The World's Best Outsourcing Advisors on February 16 at the 2009 Outsourcing World Summit. In its category, Kirkland was ranked number two overall, and was the highest ranked law firm.
Companies were judged on four critical characteristics: size and growth; customer references; organizational competencies; and management capabilities. These rankings are based on applications received and evaluated by an independent judge's panel. The 2009 judge's panel was chaired by Jagdish Dalal, Certified Outsourcing Professional™ .
"Getting named to The World's Best Outsourcing Advisors is a great recognition, particularly given the strong competition, and these companies should be proud of achieving excellence in the field," said Mr. Dalal.
"We are very pleased to be named to the World's Best Outsourcing Advisors," said Neil Hirshman, partner in the Outsourcing Practice Group. "We are proud of our reputation in the industry and appreciate others acknowledging our accomplishments."
Kirkland's Outsourcing Practice Group is an integrated team of lawyers from around the globe. Key members include Gregg Kirchhoefer, Neil Hirshman and Matt Lovell in Chicago, Stephen Johnson on the West Coast, David MacDonald in New York and Pierre-André Dubois in London. Stephen Johnson, partner in the Outsourcing Practice Group, said "Being named for these honors further evidences the Group's commitment to the delivery of the highest quality, most cost-effective legal services in this important practice area."
About Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Kirkland & Ellis LLP is a 1,500-attorney law firm representing global clients in complex intellectual property and technology matters, litigation and dispute resolution/arbitration, corporate and tax, restructuring and real estate. The Firm has offices in Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Munich, New York, Palo Alto, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
About Brown-Wilson Group and Black Book Research
The Black Book methodology employs an online survey instrument conducted over eight weeks each year. Hundreds of thousands of invitations are distributed and survey respondents were given an "open-text" opportunity to identify client experiences in eighteen Black Book key performance indicators that had the most influence on their business performance over the course of the past year. Clients weighted indicators on trust, reliability, and customer relationships as those most influencing their vendor selection decisions. Looking ahead, deep vertical expertise and customization were determined to be the next big outsourcing vendor requirement to attain to maintain and grow customer satisfaction.
About the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals
The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals™ (IAOP™) is the global, standard-setting organization and advocate for the outsourcing profession. With 40,000 customer, advisor and provider members worldwide, IAOP helps companies increase their outsourcing success rate, improve their outsourcing ROI, and expand the opportunities for outsourcing across their businesses. To learn more, visit www.outsourcingprofessional.org.
