Firm Profile > Kirkland & Ellis International LLP > Shanghai, China

Private equity: foreign firms Tier 1

Kirkland & Ellis recently bolstered its private equity offering through the promotion of four partners in Hong Kong. The group provides a full service in the private equity space supported by the strength of its sponsor-focused debt finance, high-yield, restructuring and investment funds practices. Key names to note include Gary Li , Daniel Dusek, Nicholas Norris, Chuan Li who splits his time between Shanghai and Beijing, Joey Chau, David Patrick Eich and David Zhang. All of the mentioned attorneys are based in Hong Kong unless otherwise stated.

Dispute resolution: foreign firms Tier 2

Kirkland & Ellis International LLP's experience includes complex commercial litigation, antitrust disputes, product liability cases, IP disputes, environmental claims, and securities and shareholder litigation. Shanghai's Tiana Zhang, Jodi Wu and Agnes Li are experienced practitioners.

Regulatory/compliance: foreign firms Tier 2

Acting for private equity businesses, financial institutions and multinational corporations, Kirkland & Ellis International LLP’s global investigations and international risk practice was recently instructed in highly strategic regulatory and enforcement matters, and it particularly stands out for its FCPA practice. Shanghai-based Tiana Zhang regularly represents Chinese companies in complex and high-stakes US compliance, investigation and litigation matters; she also conducts audit and special committee investigations for US exchange-listed Chinese companies, and provides compliance advice for Chinese and multinational companies in relation to their China-based operations. Other experienced advisers are Shanghai-based Jodi Wu and Cori Lable in Hong Kong.

Restructuring and insolvency: foreign firms Tier 2

Kirkland & Ellis' restructuring practice group is highly rated for its assistance to all categories of stakeholders with complex financial restructurings and insolvency proceedings. Its scope of practice includes ​debt rescheduling and refinancing, workouts and restructurings, debt trading, and distressed acquisitions and financings. Additional areas of strength are ​receiverships and liquidations, shareholder disputes, directors’ duties, and schemes of arrangement and other reorganisation procedures. Hong Kong's Neil McDonald and Damian Coles are the names to note.

Investment funds: foreign firms Tier 3

Justin Dolling and Carol Liu head the funds practice at Kirkland & Ellis, which is particularly prominent on the GP side of the market, advising on the formation, management, and closing of large funds. In addition to its strong base of established fund managers, the firm also acts for large corporates looking to set up funds as well as first or second-time fundraisers. 2018 also saw the promotion of Liyong Xing and Jennifer Feng to the partnership.

Banking and finance: foreign firms Tier 4

Focused on the debtor side, Kirkland & Ellis' practice advises private equity sponsors, credit funds and strategic corporate investors, with the team covering all key financing products across the Asia Pacific region. David Irvine heads up the Hong Kong-based Asia debt finance practice and has extensive experience in major cross-border, leveraged and acquisition financing transactions. Other names to note are Jacqueline Zheng and Daniel Abercromby; Karen Ho was made partner.

Corporate and M&A: foreign firms Tier 4

Kirkland & Ellis International LLP's experienced team of M&A lawyers covers the full range of transformational transactional work in Hong Kong and the PRC, with supporting debt finance and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act practices. Chuan Li is a senior corporate partner, who splits his time between the Beijing and Shanghai offices; he focuses on cross-border M&A and other complex corporate and private equity transactions.

Diversity

CSR 

Kirkland is committed to being a leader in corporate social responsibility, and improving communities and the legal profession through monetary gifts through the Kirkland & Ellis Foundation; embracing and promoting diversity within the Firm and the legal profession; reducing the Firm’s environmental impact; and providing legal services without charge to those who cannot afford counsel. Kirkland gave over $20 million in 2018 to worthy causes in our communities and around the world and Kirkland attorneys devoted more than 138,000 hours of free legal service to pro bono clients. Learn more about Kirkland’s commitment to pro bono and corporate social responsibility at www.kirkland.com/CSR.  

Diversity 

As a firm with a global presence, we embrace and promote diversity and inclusion, both within our own organization and throughout the legal profession. We are proud of our employees’ rich and varied backgrounds, knowledge and skills, which make us stronger as a Firm. 

Diversity at Kirkland transcends race, gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, country of origin and political affiliation. We value and encourage diversity with respect to each individual’s work style, career path and professional and life experiences. We continually strive to build and maintain a culture that values and gathers strength from our differences. 

To achieve this goal, a dedicated and active group of partners leads our Firmwide Diversity and Inclusion Committee. The committee has racial and ethnic diversity, gender and LGBTQ+ subcommittees to ensure that our programs and policies address the needs of all attorneys. 

Pro Bono 

Kirkland is committed to providing legal services without charge to those who cannot afford counsel, with the goals of improving clients’ lives, bettering communities and deepening our own professional experience. In 2018, Kirkland attorneys devoted more than 138,000 hours to representing organizations and individuals in pro bono matters—some representing classes of individuals, some involving significant legal issues, and all important, sometimes life-altering, to the people and organizations represented. 

We staff and support pro bono work with the same enthusiasm and resources that we devote to our billable work. Kirkland treats pro bono work equivalently with billable client work in performance reviews and for compensation purposes. 

All of our attorneys — from summer associates to senior partners — have opportunities to work on a broad variety of projects that appeal to their unique interests, time availability and experience. Our award-winning pro bono work includes immigration law, disability rights, civil rights, death penalty cases and criminal appeals, discrimination cases, health and patient rights, veterans’ benefits, and the representation and counsel of various nonprofit organizations, among other areas. 

We frequently partner with clients and public interest organizations on pro bono initiatives to maximize the impact of our work.