Mr Stefan Atkinson > Kirkland & Ellis LLP > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile
Kirkland & Ellis LLP Offices
601 LEXINGTON AVENUE
NEW YORK, NY 10022
NEW YORK
United States
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Mr Stefan Atkinson
Position
Stefan works on a range of complex litigation matters in the United States and abroad, including securities, M&A and antitrust suits. He also regularly counsels companies and their directors on issues of corporate governance and litigation, often in connection with major strategic transactions. Stefan’s clients have included 3G Capital, Barnes & Noble, H.J. Heinz, Mylan, Pitney Bowes, Qualcomm, Starwood Hotels, Vitamin Shoppe, The Williams Companies and Xerox.
Education
University of Michigan Law School, J.D., magna cum laude, 2009, Henry M. Bates Memorial Scholarship (highest honor at graduation), Managing Editor, Michigan Law Review, Class Speaker, Order of the Coif; Harvard University, A.B., cum laude, 2003, Captain, Harvard Rugby Football Club, President, Hasty Pudding Theatricals.
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
(Next Generation Partners)At Kirkland & Ellis LLP, ‘the depth and breadth of knowledge and experience is exceptional’. Clients remark that the firm is ‘highly strategic and tactical, achieving excellent and practical outcomes’. The team is led by Sandra Goldstein in New York and Mark Filip in Chicago. Goldstein is among the most successful securities litigators in the country, and she is currently handling more than twelve 10b-5 stock drop and derivative suits, as well as a substantial volume of M&A-related cases. The firm’s New York office is home to outstanding talent, including Stefan Atkinson who has been particularly prominent in the wave of SPAC-related cases. Atkinson and Goldstein achieved a major victory for Textron Inc., which was accused of deceiving the market about the growth and earnings prospects of Arctic Cat, a recreational vehicle business that it had acquired. The case settled favourably in 2022. Rachel Fritzler handles a broad range of matters for Fortune 500 companies, including antitrust and securities cases. She worked with Goldstein on numerous cases, among the defense of Honeywell International in a multibillion-dollar securities class action concerning the company’s asbestos-related liabilities. Matthew Solum is ‘highly responsive and even-keeled’. Joshua Rabinovitz in Washington DC acted for Boeing Company in a derivative suit arising out of Boeing’s 737 MAX jet aircraft’s October 2018 Lion Air Flight crash into the Java Sea and the March 2019 Ethiopian Flight crash minutes after takeoff.
United States > Dispute resolution > M&A litigation: defense
(Next Generation Partners)Kirkland & Ellis LLP‘s ‘exceptional’ M&A litigators ‘do outstanding work, coordinate well on technical matters, and show great commitment to understanding the facts and the relevant context’. The firm has strong ties to leading private equity houses, as well as acting for a number of blue-chip corporates, and it handles every stage from pre-litigation on deal structures and strategies all the way to trial. Its caseload involves disputes concerning tender offers, LBO and SPAC transactions, as well as poison pill matters, breach of contract claims, books and records demands, appraisal rights and a host of other disputes. Standout partner Sandra Goldstein and up-and-coming partner Stefan Atkinson (‘a trusted advisor to C-suite and board members’) successfully represented Grubhub in numerous individual shareholder lawsuits arising out of its acquisition by Just Eat Takeaway.com for $7.3bn, while Matthew Solum and Yosef Riemer are also active. In addition to the aforementioned, who are all based in New York, emerging partner talent Joshua Rabinovitz in Washington DC also plays a central role in the practice.
Lawyer Rankings
- M&A litigation: defense United States > Dispute resolution
- Next Generation Partners United States > Dispute resolution > M&A litigation: defense
- Next Generation Partners United States > Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Securities litigation: defense United States > Dispute resolution
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Media, technology and telecoms > Advertising and marketing: litigation
- Finance > Capital markets: high-yield debt offerings
- International Trade > 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+)
- Investment fund formation and management > Mutual/registered/exchange-traded funds
- 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
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Shareholder activism
- 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
- Environment > Environment: litigation
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: litigation
- Antitrust > Merger control
- 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
- Finance > Project finance
- Real estate > Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
- Government > State attorneys general
- Finance > Structured finance: securitization
- Tax > US taxes: contentious
- Dispute resolution > E-discovery
- Dispute resolution > Financial services litigation
- Insurance > Insurance: non-contentious
- Energy > Renewable/alternative power
- Intellectual property > Trademarks: non-contentious (including prosecution, portfolio management and licensing)
- Energy > Energy regulation: oil and gas
- Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: transactional
- Real estate > Construction (including construction litigation)
- International Trade > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
- 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
- Investment fund formation and management > Mutual/registered/exchange-traded funds