....Chicago

“It’s a 106 miles to Chicago, we’ve got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes; it’s dark and we’re wearing sun glasses. Hit it!”  - The Blues Brothers

Chicago is a city, which is constantly evolving and reinventing itself: steeped in history and culturally diverse, its many faces are reflected in the wide variety of nicknames that the city has acquired.

It epithets range from the ‘Windy City’, which is attributed to the boastful nature of its politicians rather than the weather; to ‘Second City’, now embraced as a badge of honour in its rivalry with New York; and described by poets as the ‘City of the big shoulders’ (Carl Sandburg) or ‘City on the Make’ (Nelson Algren).

Before my arrival in Chicago, I was familiar with most of the American clichés associated with the city: its Prohibition era gangsters, traditional Deep Dish pizza as well as its take on the Hot Dog, and finally the plethora of Chicago teams, the most famous of which are the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago Bulls.

For me, as the city where Baker & McKenzie was founded, it offered a wonderful opportunity to expand on the month I had already spent in the London office and to discover the firm’s original office. As one of the world’s principal financial centres, home to major financial and futures exchanges, the time I have spent in Baker & McKenzie’s Corporate & Securities group definitely reflects this.

As a history undergraduate with minimal experience of law, I benefited from a wide exposure to the large variety of M&A transactions that are passing through Bakers in Chicago. The office is located in the upper floors of the Prudential Building in the Loop, downtown Chicago, with incredible panoramic views of the city and Lake Michigan. My own desk has an incredible view of the South Side of Chicago over Grant and Millennium parks, with Lake Michigan as a backdrop; visiting Chicago in late summer, I have definitely enjoyed the endless blue skies and sunny afternoons.

Although I am only half way through my time in Chicago, I have been struck by the vibrancy of the city. Chicago is host to a surprisingly rich cultural scene: the Chicago Art Institute merits various days of exploration; improvisational comedy is rife and in dive bars across the city you can enjoy jazz and blues from the wrong side of the tracks.

The city is dominated by Lake Michigan, with miles of beaches and river walk, and provides a useful point of reference for the directionally challenged (head east and you’ll eventually hit the lake). Like most American cities, Chicago is based on a grid system centred around the intersection of Madison St and State St, but you cannot help being awed by the vastness of the city.

A trip up any of Chicago’s skyscrapers yields a view of a lake, which stretches to the horizon on one side and the seemingly endless view of Chicagoland. The Great Fire of 1871 may have almost entirely destroyed Chicago, but the city that emerged redefined American urban architecture; Chicago remains a crucible of innovation, vision and ambition. From the early prototypical skyscrapers and art deco, the prairie style, modernism and post-modernism, all modern architectural movements can be found in Chicago’s skyline.

Despite being a native Londoner, bred with an aversion to living anywhere else, I have been surprised by just how much I have enjoyed exploring Chicago. The city can be best described as the crossroads of America – in every geographical and cultural sense. With the buzz of a large metropolitan area, combined with a traditional America spirit and a refreshing lack of pretension, Chicago is truly one of last great American cities.