Mr John O'Neil > Kirkland & Ellis LLP > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile

Kirkland & Ellis LLP
601 LEXINGTON AVENUE
NEW YORK, NY 10022
NEW YORK
United States
John O'Neil photo

Position

John is a globally recognized leader in the private equity field. He heads Kirkland & Ellis’ Investment Funds Group, the firm’s leading-edge global platform that provides innovative and bespoke legal strategies to sponsors and funds of all kinds. John is also a member of the Firm’s Executive Committee. John is a founding member of the firm’s Private Funds Crisis Management Group, which guides investment fund sponsors, advisory boards, and other market participants through some of their most challenging situations. As the go-to advisor to some of the world’s most dynamic funds, John leverages more than two decades of industry knowledge to achieve optimal results for his clients in day-to-day operations and extraordinary events and transactions, including “key person” events, investor defaults, and spin-outs. John is a global thought leader on private equity market trends, firm leadership and culture, and community engagement. John also serves on the boards of the Susan G. Komen breast cancer foundation, and the Constellation Fund, an organization that fights poverty in the Twin Cities community.

Lawyer Rankings

United States > Investment fund formation and management > Private equity funds (including venture capital)

Kirkland & Ellis LLP maintains a strong position in the private equity space, serving a broad client roster that spans across middle-market and smaller managers to preeminent private equity firms and global investors. The team covers private fund formation and maintenance across every asset class, appearing on behalf of both the sponsor and investor on complex fund formations, restructurings, transactions and related regulatory matters. Practice head John O’Neil is a preeminent name in this space and services funds of all kinds from the Chicago office. Erica Berthou and Andrew Wright bolster the firm’s New York office, with the former having experience in fund formation in emerging markets, next to advising on strategic private investments, while the latter has extensive experience with funds focused on industry sectors. Further key names in New York are Katrina Rowe, whose broad advisory offering encompasses buyout, credit and distressed debt funds, co-investment arrangements as well as compliance and regulatory matters and Daniel Lavon-Krein who is co-head of the firm’s strategic GP Advisory practice. In Chicago, Kelly Ryan and Katie St. Peters are names of note, while Nicole Washington is a key contact in Washington DC. In January 2023 John Senior joined the New York office from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, and is part of the liquidity solutions team, while in November of the same year, David Sherman rejoined the practice from Latham & Watkins LLP. In April 2024, James Donohue joined from Goodwin in Boston, while Martin Strauch joined the DC office from Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP