Zeke Johnson

Zeke Johnson advises private fund sponsors and institutional investors on the formation, structuring, and operation of alternative investment funds. He brings a practical, business-minded approach to counseling clients on some of their most complex investment structures and challenges, including fund design and launches, the structuring and formation of management entities, and capital formation arrangements such as seed investments and revenue-sharing agreements. He draws on nearly two decades of legal experience focused exclusively on the private investment funds industry.

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Zeke’s experience spans a broad range of strategies and structures, including private equity, private credit, hedge funds, venture capital, real estate, hybrid and evergreen funds, impact funds, and managed accounts. He also advises institutional investors—including public pension plans, family offices, endowments, foundations, and corporate treasury departments—on private fund investments, co-investments, funds of one, separately managed accounts, and secondary transactions. Zeke represents fund sponsors in connection with GP-led secondaries and related liquidity solutions. He also has substantial experience designing and documenting compensation arrangements, including carried interest and performance allocation-sharing structures.

Zeke provides regulatory counsel on matters involving the Investment Advisers Act, the Commodity Exchange Act, Regulation D, and other securities laws applicable to private funds and sponsors. He frequently coordinates cross-disciplinary support from tax, ERISA, cybersecurity, AML, employment, and international counsel to deliver integrated legal advice across operational areas.

He serves as the Chicago leader of the firm’s investment management practice. Before returning to private practice, Zeke was Chief Legal Officer of a large alternative asset manager, where he oversaw legal affairs across the company and led a global team of lawyers.