About

KKR & Co’s transition to a public company has seen David Sorkin take an instrumental role in navigating it through this transitional phase in its life. Sorkin was its first-ever General Counsel, so has played a huge part in setting the precedent for how its in-house legal department should be focused. He joined in 2007, and the regulations for private equity companies has changed a lot since, but according to Gary Horowitz of Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett, Sorkin has a ‘brilliant legal mind’ and ‘has been at the forefront of the private equity industry on issues’. Rebecca Silberstein of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP opines that his ‘talent is consistently on exhibit in the way he navigates the regulatory, tax and business issues confronting such a complex global firm in this age, where new issues and challenges are constantly presented to him. He has built a superb, high-level in-house legal team, with a mandate to mirror his deep thoughtfulness as lawyers’. Both the aforementioned also wax lyrical about Sorkin’s additional qualities. Horowitz says he is ‘generous with his time and has mentored many younger private equity lawyers. He is like an old-fashioned advisor in that people will seek out his opinions even on matters that are not purely legal’. Silberstein says he is ‘well-known for his innate decency and humanity’, and that his ‘extraordinary intellect and unwavering integrity engenders absolute respect within the industry’.