Mr Jon Ballis > Kirkland & Ellis LLP > Chicago, United States > Lawyer Profile
Kirkland & Ellis LLP Offices

333 West Wolf Point Plaza
Chicago, IL 60654
United States
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Mr Jon Ballis

Position
Jon Ballis is Chairman of Kirkland’s Executive Committee. He has long been recognized as one of the leading private equity attorneys in the United States, with Chambers USA recognizing him in every edition since 2004 and The Best Lawyers in America listing him in every edition since 2006. Private Equity Manager named him one of the top 10 private equity lawyers in the country and The Legal 500 U.S. selected Jon as one of only 10 private equity lawyers for its elite “Leading Lawyers” list.
Clients describe Jon as a “go-to guy in the marketplace,” a lawyer with “stellar legal judgement,” and someone with the ability “to take a big picture, strategic perspective on transactions.”
During his career, Jon has handled matters on behalf of many of the leading private equity firms in the country, including Bain, Blackstone, Centerbridge, Cerberus, Hellman & Friedman, KKR, Madison Dearborn, Pritzker Group, Silver Lake, TPG, and Thomas H. Lee.
Memberships
Civic Committee, Commercial Club of Chicago, Economic Club, Vision for Tomorrow Foundation, Illinois Holocaust Museum, Anti-Defamation League
Education
Harvard Law School, J.D., cum laude, 1994; Lehigh University, B.A., with High Honors, 1991.
Lawyer Rankings
United States > M&A/corporate and commercial > Private equity buyouts: large deals ($500m+)
(Hall of Fame)In addition to its diverse caseload and close relationships with leading private equity clients such as Bain Capital, Blackstone, and KKR, the team at Kirkland & Ellis LLP also cements its market-leading reputation with its ability to advise funds and portfolio companies on complex and market-defining deals. The team serves as a key player for high-value sponsor consolidations, impactful cross-border carve-outs and joint venture formations, and continuation fund transactions, among others. Jon Ballis boasts a longstanding record in the transactional private equity space and practices from the Chicago office together with growth investment expert Douglas Gessner. Key names in the New York office include leveraged buyout expert Jennifer Perkins, who works closely with KKR on a variety of investment transactions and portfolio deals, Peter Martelli, who is noted for his ability to guide clients through minority investments and joint ventures, and cross-border transactions specialist Srinivas Kaushik. Armand Della Monica is based in Boston and handles PE transactions in a variety of industry sectors, including logistics and life sciences, while the Los Angeles-based Jonathan Benloulou notably advises on asset manager M&A.
Lawyer Rankings
- Hall of Fame United States > M&A/corporate and commercial > Private equity buyouts: large deals ($500m+)
- Private equity buyouts: large deals ($500m+) United States > M&A/corporate and commercial
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Media, technology and telecoms > Advertising and marketing: litigation
- Finance > Capital markets: high-yield debt offerings
- International trade and national security > CFIUS
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Government > Government relations
- Intellectual property > Copyright
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- Energy > Energy litigation: oil and gas
- Energy > Energy transactions: electric power
- Energy > Energy transactions: oil and gas
- Environment > Environment: transactional
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- Tax > International tax
- Dispute resolution > M&A litigation: defense
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: large deals ($1bn+)
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Private equity buyouts: large deals ($500m+)
- Investment fund formation and management > Private equity funds (including venture capital)
- Real estate > Real estate
- Finance > Restructuring (including bankruptcy): corporate
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Media, technology and telecoms > Technology transactions
- Intellectual property > Trade secrets (litigation and non-contentious matters)
- Intellectual property > Trademarks: litigation
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
Firm Rankings
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- Antitrust > Cartel
- Energy > Energy regulation: electric power
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Investment fund formation and management > Mutual/registered/exchange-traded funds
- Media, technology and telecoms > Outsourcing
- Intellectual property > Patents: licensing
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (International Trade Commission)
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: automotive/transport
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: consumer products (including tobacco)
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: pharmaceuticals and medical devices
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: toxic tort
- Real estate > Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
- Energy > Renewable/alternative power
- Government > State attorneys general
- Finance > Structured finance: securitization
- Tax > US taxes: contentious
- Dispute resolution > E-discovery
- Environment > Environment: litigation
- Dispute resolution > Financial services litigation
- Insurance > Insurance: non-contentious
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: litigation
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: transactional
- Finance > Project finance
- Intellectual property > Trademarks: non-contentious (including prosecution, portfolio management and licensing)
- International trade and national security > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
- Energy > Energy regulation: oil and gas
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
- Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
- Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
- Dispute resolution > Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal)
- Finance > Commercial lending
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Shareholder activism