Corporate M&A PE Associate Attorney

** Full end of year bonus + signing bonus **

You're a private equity associate in one of the best sponsor markets in the country. So why does the job still feel like document management?

You can run a deal. You've handled the diligence, drafted the transaction docs, built the closing checklist, kept the workstream moving across a dozen deals at once. But "leading" the transaction means something different at your firm — the partner negotiates with the sponsor, and you turn the markup.

Chicago has one of the deepest middle-market private equity ecosystems anywhere. The sponsors are here. The deal flow is here. You should be running these transactions — advising funds directly, sitting across the table, owning the deal from inception through closing — not processing them for someone else.

A global AmLaw firm with a large, national private equity platform is expanding its Chicago corporate team. They're making two hires — because the platform is growing, and they want associates who can actually lead deals, not just staff them.

The work includes:

• Leading complex M&A and private equity transactions from inception through closing
• Direct fund and portfolio company advisory across the full investment lifecycle
• Platform acquisitions, add-ons, carve-outs, and exits for sponsor clients
• Negotiating and drafting the full suite of acquisition and transaction documents

What you bring:

• 3-7 years of M&A and private equity transactional experience at a major firm
• A track record of leading deals — not just supporting them
• Strong drafting skills and commercial judgment
• Illinois bar or eligibility to obtain

What you get:

• A dedicated PE platform that wants you running deals at your level, not five years from now
• Direct sponsor relationships, not redlines handed down from the deal team
• Cravath scale ($260K-$420K depending on class year)

Apply here directly or send your resume confidentially to View email address on click.appcast.io