It was hard not to detect an element of schadenfreude in this week’s Financial Times headline beginning ‘Lawyers learn humility’. The pink ’un’s venerable Lex columnist was commenting on news that members of the investment team at global firm Kirkland & Ellis had been given training in their communication skills.
Allegedly, even in the dog-eat-dog world of private equity investing, the Chicago-headquartered firm had gained a reputation for uncooperative behaviour when negotiating contracts. According to the paper, this was brought home at an industry event in New York last year when investors were asked the one thing they would change if they had a magic wand. ‘Fire K&E’ appeared prominently in the word-cloud of responses.
The subsequent communications training reportedly zoomed in on the firm’s all-purpose response to negotiation proposals, ‘We respectfully decline’, which has now been banned.
‘Our firm values the relationships we have built within the funds industry,’ K&E said in a statement.
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