John Kabealo

John Kabealo is a partner in the International Trade and National Security Practice Group of Kirkland & Ellis LLP and a member of the Firm’s Global Foreign Direct Investment Screening Group. John’s practice focuses on U.S. national security regulatory processes, including with respect to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA), and coordination of U.S. regulatory reviews with those of other regimes worldwide.

John has successfully presided over some of the largest and most complex transactions to be approved by CFIUS and DCSA, and he has advised clients in every context of CFIUS filings, including negotiated transactions, restructurings, creditor enforcement, hostile takeovers (including using CFIUS unilaterally as a hostile defense), non-notified transactions, CFIUS enforcement proceedings and in numerous cases involving ongoing compliance with CFIUS national security agreements.

John is frequently praised for his ability to create novel solutions to obtain regulatory clearances while advancing client commercial interests. He is a Senior Advisor to the CELIS Institute, where he plays a pivotal role in advancing global thought leadership on investment screening mechanisms, and through which numerous governments in developed and emerging markets have sought his analysis.

University of Virginia School of Law, J.D., 2007; Princeton University, A.B., Politics, 2003