Jeremy Mandell
- Partner
- Kirkland & Ellis
School Information
School: University of Illinois
College Major: Business
Years at College Works: 2009
Career Information
Working For: Kirkland & Ellis
Title: Partner
Industry: Legal
Brief Description of Duties / Responsibilities:
I’m a corporate partner in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. My practice focuses on complex business transactions, including structuring and negotiating strategic and leveraged acquisitions and divestitures, mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt financings, recapitalizations and restructurings, executive compensation and incentive equity matters, and general corporate counseling and compliance. I have handled such matters on behalf of, among others, Thoma Bravo, Garnett Station Partners, Percheron Capital, AE Industrial Partners, Brightstar Capital Partners, Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, CIVC Partners and Olympus Partners, as well as many of their portfolio companies.
What Has Been Your Proudest Accomplishment Post-CWP?Co-founding “Cracked” breakfast food truck in Champaign and getting into U of I Law School.
College Works Career Impact
In one sentence, what has CW meant to you?
Very important learning experience. College Works Painting gave me confidence in sales, entrepreneurship and learning how to run a business.
How did your CW experience impact your career? Immediately after graduation? Now?
I took a lot of managerial skills from College Works Painting directly to hiring and training employees. Also, helped deal with getting contracts for music festivals.
What was the greatest lesson you learned from your CW experience?
Organization. Learned how to keep everything organized and made sure it was done on time.
Advice
What advice do you have for potential CW participants? Current CW participants?
Keep your eye on the prize. Try harder than everyone else. Work ethic pays!
What’s your best advice for someone interested in entering your career field?
If you want to do something, go out there, expose yourself to the risk, and do it!
What’s your favorite memory from CW?
Booking my first estimate
Last words of wisdom?
I never realized, until the internship was over, that I ever had an opportunity to say “no” to the work presented to me. I went home every weekend possible, knocked on as many doors the first week till as late as possible, booked my weekends with as many estimates I could fit, and when it came time to production, made sure we delivered. When looking at my peers, most of them did less than I did, going home for 3-4 estimates in a weekend, and I wondered why. The reason they did less is because they decided to, where as I never even second guessed it. Once you’ve decided to commit to something, do it, and don’t look back. The more time you put in now, the better you’re going to end up later on.