Small enough to provide specific attention, yet big enough to have a wide breadth of expertise.
- Chambers USA
History
Goldberg Kohn was founded in 1976, by four lawyers at a well-known midsized Chicago firm, with the express goal of creating a firm that would provide legal services on a par with the largest and most respected firms in Chicago. The founders aimed to create a firm with a working environment based on mutual respect, support, and trust and completely devoid of internal competition and personal empire building. The theory was that by focusing their competitive energy on providing the best possible legal services rather than on internal politics the firm would not only attract and retain superb lawyers who truly enjoy the practice of law, but also provide a welcome change for clients weary of the infighting that is characteristic of so many of today's law firms; politics that add unnecessary cost and inefficiencies to the handling of legal matters.
Today, over 40 years later, those ideals are not only intact, but remain the greatest source of Goldberg Kohn's success. During the first years of its founding, the firm grew primarily by attracting lawyers from large, well-established firms to join a noble, if risky, experiment. The firm worked hard to achieve a greater level of name recognition at leading national law schools, enabling it to attract outstanding graduates who have gone on to become Goldberg Kohn's first generation nurtured from summer associate to principal. Although the firm continues to rely on law school recruitment to fuel a portion of its growth, the firm is also a magnet for young lawyers who have been in practice for a few years at recognized firms and who look to Goldberg Kohn as the home where they can practice law in a supportive environment for the rest of their professional career.
Goldberg Kohn's clientele has grown to include an institutional client base worthy of a much larger firm, while preserving the same idealistic and collegial atmosphere that has become the hallmark of the firm.
