Lateral Attorneys - Opportunities for Laterals

Our people are solving complex problems.  Finding innovative solutions. Feeling inspired by their work and inspiring others along the way.  At Sonnenschein, we want you to aspire to high goals and inspire others to reach theirs.  When you join Sonnenschein, you will become part of one of our many areas of practice, and we will ask you to work on a broad array of substantive and meaningful projects right from the start.  A trip through sonnenschein.com will show you that we’ve structured our practices in a way that best addresses the needs of our clients, maximizes competencies and develops the best in our people. 

Our clients often have specific questions for which they need answers, based on their most pressing business issues.  That’s why, regardless of the practice that you join, you will be helping other practices and will be working with people and clients from all over the firm.  With us, you will always be learning, and you’ll work at the forefront of the legal profession.

Sonnenschein has experienced tremendous growth in recent years.  That means we understand the value of investing in dedicated professionals with great ideas.  Our growth over the past decade—we now have 15 offices in the U.S. and Europe—has only reinforced our culture and values and we cherish the collegial, inclusive environment we have always enjoyed.

Sonnenschein Offers a National Platform to Leverage Your Practice

• Sonnenschein's multi-office structure pursues a "One Firm Concept" with a passion.
• If a Sonnenschein lawyer calls another Sonnenschein lawyer with a problem, the cultural paradigm is to set aside what you are doing and to lend a hand.
• Chambers USA:  America's Leading Lawyers for Business 2008 has ranked more than 70 of our lawyers in its client guide.  Chambers has also recognized 32 of our areas of practice, including 10 for their capabilities nationally.  Of the 10, both Insurance and Leisure & Hospitality received Chambers' top ranking, with Insurance receiving the 2008 Chambers Award for Excellence.  The other practices recognized by Chambers on a national scale include Franchising; Venture Capital; Outsourcing; Internet, Communications & Data Security; Climate Change; Public Law & Policy Strategies; Energy; and Trusts & Estates.

Sonnenschein Promotes Women

• Women are represented on Sonnenschein's key committees—Policy & Planning, Finance and Legal Development—and a woman serves as an office managing partner.
• Women serve in a leadership capacity in 5 out of 14 of Sonnenschein's practices.
• Sonnenschein is a leader in the Chicago Bar Association's Alliance for Women "Call to Action.”

Sonnenschein is Inclusive

• The firm received the State Bar of California’s 2008 Diversity Award in the law firm category.
• Sonnenschein is ranked nationally as one of the Best 20 Law Firms for Diversity by Vault in 2008. In the same report, our firm ranked 8th nationally for Diversity with Respect to Women. Vault surveyed more than 18,800 associates at 167 firms nationwide to obtain these results.
• Sonnenschein is listed in Multicultural Law magazine's 2008 list of top 100 law firms for diversity.
• Sonnenschein received the highest score, a rating of 100, in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's 2008 Corporate Equality Index.  The foundation is the educational arm of the nation's largest advocacy group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans.
• Working Mother magazine named Sonnenschein one of the top 50 firms in the country for women lawyers in 2007.
• Sonnenschein was recognized as the best law firm in the U.S. for women by Presumed Equal: What America's Top Women Lawyers Really Think About Their Firms, based on a survey conducted by members of the Women's Law Association at Harvard Law School.
• The firm received Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s Sager Award (in Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions) in 2005 for extraordinary commitment to diversity.
• In 2004, Sonnenschein formed an alliance with Pugh, Jones, Johnson and Quandt, P.C., one of the largest minority-owned law firms in the United States. Although each firm has kept its own identity, attorneys from the two firms frequently work as a team on joint matters.  The alliance represents a novel approach to racial diversity in that it supports both the continued existence and flourishing of a minority-owned firm and the inherent value and creativity of interpersonal diversity in solving legal problems for clients of both a majority-owned and a minority-owned firm.
• The firm has established a supplier diversity program that is reflective of today's marketplace. We seek to place a portion of the firm's business expenditures with businesses that are owned and operated by minorities, women, gays/lesbians and the physically challenged.

Sonnenschein Gives Back to the Community

• In 2005, Sonnenschein founded the Legacy Charter School in the impoverished neighborhood of North Lawndale in Chicago, Illinois. Sonnenschein and its personnel provide Legacy with financial, managerial and operational support.  Legacy currently has 304 scholars in grades pre-K through 5th.  Ultimately, the school will grow to nearly 500 students in pre-K through 8th grade.
• Sonnenschein is a supporter of Kids Enjoy Exercise Now (KEEN), a national, nonprofit volunteer-led organization that provides one-to-one recreational opportunities for children and young adults with mental and physical disabilities at no cost to their families and caregivers.  Attorneys and staff volunteer and serve on the local boards.
• The Sonnenschein Scholars Foundation provides 50 law students across the United States with summer stipends, making it possible for them to participate in public service/policy summer programs.
• Sonnenschein won the Circle of Humanitarians Award from the American Red Cross in recognition of its contributions to tsunami and hurricane relief efforts.

Sonnenschein is Pro Bono

• In 2007, more than 75 percent of attorneys at Sonnenschein performed pro bono work.  In total, the firm contributed over 48,000 hours of pro bono work during the year.
• Full-time attorneys may credit the first 100 hours of time spent on pro bono client matters each year to their billable hours requirement.
• The American Lawyer ranked Sonnenschein 29th in the pro bono category in 2008
• The firm was honored in 2006 with the Outstanding Pro Bono Contributions Award from the Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI).
• The Chicago Bar Association has in recent years recognized the work of our Chicago lawyers with the Pro Bono Service Award and the Law Firm Mentoring Program of the Year Award; our San Francisco office received the State Bar of California’s President’s Pro Bono Service Award; and lawyers in our New York office received both the Cornerstone Award from the Lawyers Alliance for New York and inMotion’s Commitment to Justice Award.