Kirkland & Ellis

Firm Overview: 

Kirkland & Ellis is global law firm with more than 3,500 attorneys representing clients in private equity, M&A and other complex corporate transactions, litigation and dispute resolution/arbitration, restructuring, and intellectual property matters. The firm has 19 offices around the world: Austin, Bay Area, Beijing, Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Munich, New York, Paris, Salt Lake City, Shanghai and Washington, D.C.

Main Areas of Practice: 

Kirkland is a full-service law firm focusing in the following practice areas:

Antitrust & Competition: 

Kirkland advises on all aspects of competition law, including preeminent criminal and civil antitrust litigation defence, government investigation defence, expedited transaction clearance and real-world counseling experience. The firm’s integrated team of lawyers provides seamless representation to clients throughout the world. Kirkland successfully defends clients in their most important government-initiated and private cases involving the full spectrum of antitrust claims, from cartels to monopolisation to pricing disputes. The group also has an exceptional depth of experience in US and foreign merger and acquisition clearances, navigating clients through the process from strategic counseling, efficient filing with regulatory agencies and rapid regulatory review.

Capital Markets: 

Kirkland’s capital markets practice covers the full spectrum of corporate financing techniques. The firm represents issuers, sponsors and underwriters in a wide variety of international securities transactions, with a particular focus on offerings of high-yield and other complex debt securities.

Debt Finance: 

Kirkland’s debt finance practice services both borrowers and lenders in a wide variety of financing transactions across the entire capital structure. The firm is engaged in every aspect of a financing transaction: advising borrowers and lenders on senior, subordinated, mezzanine and bridge financing transactions, as well as high-yield offerings. Kirkland has unsurpassed experience and depth in structuring and negotiating the various layers of senior and unsubordinated debt and equity financing in connection with leveraged acquisitions. The group also handles DIP financings, exit financings and debt restructurings.

Intellectual Property Litigation: 

Kirkland has one of the most respected intellectual property litigation practices, with particular experience in large-scale patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret misappropriation and advertising matters. The firm has one of the most active trial practices and one of the best success rates at trial, with only a few losses over the last ten years despite handling some of the most challenging litigation cases in history.

International Litigation & Arbitration: 

Kirkland is renowned for its experience in complex litigation and arbitration around the world. Kirkland has a long and proven track record of generating successful results for clients in their most high-stakes cases. The firm has a deep bench of lawyers who have been taking cases to verdict since the early stages of their careers. Lawyers in all of Kirkland’s offices have tried cases, successfully to verdict or to judgment, in virtually every substantive area and business segment. Kirkland’s lawyers are also recognised for their experience in all aspects of international arbitration and in the conduct of white-collar crime and government investigations on a global basis.

International Trade & National Security: 

Kirkland works closely with companies, investors and boards to manage and mitigate the legal, reputational and other risks associated with operating or investing across national borders. Kirkland’s attorneys combine former senior government experience, policy acumen, legal knowledge and practical business judgment to deliver client-focused solutions across a variety of contexts, including everyday client counseling, corporate transactions, cross-border internal investigations and the defense of multi-regulator enforcement actions.

Investment Funds: 

Kirkland is a global leader in providing sophisticated advice to investment fund sponsors, institutional investors and other market participants in the alternative investment fund space. Attorneys at Kirkland focus on investment funds across the globe, uniquely positioning the firm to serve its clients in connection with the formation, organisation and operation of buyout, growth-equity, venture, real estate, infrastructure, energy, credit, mezzanine, private equity and hedge funds, as well as their respective management companies.

Private Equity/Mergers & Acquisitions: 

Kirkland’s private equity and M&A lawyers cover the full spectrum of corporate transactions important to businesses in today’s global marketplace. Because of the firm’s consistently high volume of complex transactional engagements, it has developed a broad vision of the issues that confront business organisations and an aptitude for developing novel, creative and constructive solutions. Kirkland has one of the most active and highly regarded corporate practices. The team has extensive experience in the formulation of innovative strategies for structuring acquisitions and financings of private and public companies, negotiated as well as unsolicited acquisitions, going-private transactions, stock-for-stock acquisitions, spin-off transactions and acquisitions of minority interests. Kirkland’s emphasis on teamwork allows it to synthesise the specialty areas needed to support a top-tier transactional practice for the benefit of its clients.

Regulatory: 

Kirkland has developed a distinguished and market-leading regulatory practice that regularly advises private equity and venture capital firms and other companies regulated by either the UK regulator, the US regulator or both.

Restructuring/Insolvency: 

By combining sophisticated business advisory and crisis management skills with extensive experience in multijurisdictional insolvency matters, Kirkland’s worldwide restructuring group navigates clients through the turmoil of situations involving financially troubled companies. The firm has earned a distinguished reputation by achieving positive results for a wide range of global clients in complex corporate restructuring, workout and bankruptcy planning, negotiation and litigation.

Tax: 

The firm’s tax practice group provides its clients with the most creative tax planning available in a responsible and cost-efficient manner. The practice has developed a strong international reputation for providing sophisticated tax counseling and effectively representing its clients in tax disputes worldwide. Kirkland’s tax practice can be divided broadly into two areas: tax planning in connection with mergers, acquisitions, buyouts, fund formations, restructurings, financings, executive compensation plans and other sophisticated transactions; and contested tax matters.

Technology & Intellectual Property Transactions:  

Kirkland concentrates on international business transactions that are driven by the acquisition, use or divestiture of rights in intellectual property and technology. The firm represents some of the world’s leading technology companies and brings its experience to all areas of IP, including patents, copyrights, trademarks, outsourcing, computer software, licensing, distribution, joint venture agreements, biotechnology, data protection and e-commerce issues, as well as competition law-related matters. Kirkland also has lawyers with significant experience in the areas of real estate matters.