Kirkland & Ellis LLP in New York has ‘a pre-eminent M&A defense litigation practice and has done a great job recruiting young talent from Delaware’. Advising on deal structures and strategies at the pre-litigation stage to achieving successful outcomes at trial, the firm has extensive experience handling cases arising from mergers and acquisitions, shareholder activism issues, proxy contests, tender offers, leveraged buyouts, and special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) transactions. The firm is known for its presence in the private equity market, but it also advises many financial sponsors and corporates in key industries such as pharmaceuticals on transaction-related cases. Standout partners Sandra Goldstein, Matthew Solum (who is known for ‘great presence, outstanding judgment and comprehensive knowledge’) and Yosef Riemer are highly regarded; ‘their breadth of experience gives them exceptional judgment’. Up-and-coming partners Stefan Atkinson and, in Washington DC, Joshua Rabinovitz also have outstanding reputations in deal-related litigation. Atkinson helped secure a trial victory in Delaware for private equity house Antin Infrastructure Partners in a matter concerning the purchase of middle-market Florida telecom company OpticalTel.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Kirkland has a pre-eminent M&A defense litigation practice and has done a great job recruiting young talent from Delaware.’
‘Matt Solum has a great presence, outstanding judgment, and comprehensive knowledge of the space. Josh Greenblatt is expanding his practice into Chancery and is a wonderful guy. The Kirkland team has snapped up a number of young lawyers who are super talented, including Mike Rusie.’
‘Exceptionally strong team with incredible experience in Chancery. They have a deep bench of tenacious litigators able to take on any type of dispute.’
‘Their breadth of experience gives them exceptional judgment. They are very thoughtful in their approach to issues and have an unusually strong sense of the Court and its judges. Matthew Solum and Martin Roth are particularly strong.’
Key clients
- Antin Infrastructure Partners
- EQT Corporation
- ArcLight Capital Partners
- BC Partners
- Stable Road Capital
- AbbVie Inc.
- Vista Equity Partners
- Hecla Mining
- American Rail Partners
- Avalara Inc.
Lawyers
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Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
