Kirkland & Ellis International LLP > London, England > Firm Profile

‘Excellent coordination throughout with a full suite of capabilities.’

‘K&E, and in particular David Higgins and Aprajita Dhundia, go above and beyond in every way on a deal.’

‘A deep bench of cross border M&A partners and related financing colleagues allows us to execute transactions with market-leading experts.’

‘The Kirkland corporate/PE team is absolutely first rate and quite possibly the best in the City. It has remarkable strength in depth and, having done a number of deals with them over recent years, no obvious weak link. Their lawyers are knowledgeable, expert and authoritative, particularly when dealing with the other side. They help their clients unpack problems and roll up their sleeves to help identify solutions. And they achieve great outcomes.’

‘Stuart Boyd is a standout – he displays real expertise, identifies all the angles on deal points and leads from the front. Dan Clarke is a star in the making. Unflappable, confident without being arrogant and knowledgeable.’

‘Simply the best firm around – smart, proactive, commercial, cutting-edge thinking and strength-in-depth.’

‘Kirkland & Ellis is the gold standard for corporate restructuring and insolvency, – particularly for complex transactions and hedge fund clients. The partners combine commercial acumen with excellent legal knowledge and an innovative mindset.’

‘Kon Asimacopoulos: the best operator in the market. Leads the business from the front. He is always strategic, always hustling and always relevant in the market. He is a master tactician and laser focused on delivering results.’

‘Partha Kar is a standout lawyer in the distressed space.’

‘Sean Lacey is a superbly commercial lawyer. Strong engine, hungry and a great client man.’

‘Elaine Nolan is technically excellent, has deep knowledge of CVAs and is focused on delivering a high quality output that meets the client’s needs.’

‘Kirkland & Ellis is well known and highly regarded for their expertise in the field of leveraged finance.’

‘Cedric van den Borren and Antoine Lebienvenu are partners that make a difference. They deliver best in class service.’

‘Kirkland London team advises us when we issue bonds.’

‘Kirkland is exceptionally good as far as bonds are concerned.’

‘They are efficient, responsive, professional and reliable. There are probably cheaper options out there but Kirkland is worth the money.’

‘Our main contact is Matt Merkle. Matt is an outstanding lawyer. He is professional, friendly and reliable. In almost 2 years I don’t think there’s been a single time when he did not answer my email within 30 minutes. This includes weekends and holidays. Matt is exceptionally hard working and he always delivers.’

‘Kirkland does many things well, but really stand out in its thoughtful and proactive approach. They go above and beyond to be problem solvers versus just taking a ‘cookie cutter’ approach to a given situation.’

‘I see Bill Burke as a real difference maker. He has the ability to seemingly be in five different places at once and always in a position to provide thoughtful feedback. I think that really sets the tone for the whole team at Kirkland.’

‘The differentiation of Kirkland is access to partners. At many other firms it is actually quite hard to get to speak with partners. Their knowledge of the market is a good as any other firm and far better than most. When we speak to them it they feel like friends and partners totally committed to our success, not just our legal advisors.’

‘Jeremy Leggate has outstanding technical knowledge and strategic advice. Always responds quickly whatever the time of day or night. Even though he is a partner very accessible and has a friendly style with strong inter personal skills. Similar applies to associate David Pritchett.’

‘The depth of their team is what makes them stand out – across the funds team but also the wider tax and regulatory teams. You get on point, commercial advice across the board, and high quality support from the associates, trainees and paralegals who are responsive, knowledgeable and organised.’

‘Andy Shore is our day to day lead, and he is a fantastic resource – always available, always on top of things and commercial when it matters. He is also great at coordinating across different teams and making sure we have clear and consistent communication channels.’

‘The Kirkland team advise us on our private credit fundraising activities. They have a high level of expertise in this space and have played a key role in helping us to develop this relatively new area of our business. The team bring a good balance of senior level advice on complex issues and strong execution from more junior lawyers.’

‘Anand Damodaran is a highly experienced and knowledgable partner with an excellent commercial understanding of the private credit space and extremely strong technical skills which have been very valuable as we have developed this part of our business.’

‘The Kirkland Private Funds practice is a leader in London. They are highly efficient and provide extremely valuable advice both on technical and commercial aspects.’

‘Richard Watkins leads the team very well, but is also highly responsive when required himself. He is thoughtful, calm and measured. Amala Ejikeme is very effective and takes the initiative to solve complex issues.’

‘An excellent team delivering a first-rate service. All aspects of a case are thoroughly considered arriving at a fully thought out strategy. Team members are intelligent, commercial and tenacious.’

‘Nicola Dagg is an excellent team leader who brings wisdom and commercial insight. Jin Ooi is highly intelligent and conscientious, great to work with. Stephen Baldwin is intelligent and reassuring – clients know they are in excellent hands. Peter Pereira is great to work with. Daniel Lim is clever, engaged and commercial.’

‘Incredibly hardworking, diligent and reliable team.’

‘High quality legal analysis, thorough understanding of procedure and excellent work ethic. Gabriella Bornstein is reliable, charming and exceptionally sharp. Steven Baldwin is an asset to any legal team, with an eye for details.’

‘Kirkland’s London office has a broad and capable IP team which has grown in recent years. They handle all types of IP, with a particular focus on the big patent cases from both the pharma and telecoms fields. The team is driven by Nicola Dagg who injects a spirit of proaction and innovation. A key strength is the sheer work ethic of the team: those at Kirkland are expected to commit heavily to the job.’

‘Peter Pereira is a relatively new partner but with great promise. Peter carries with him judgment beyond his years. He has an astute perception of the judge’s likely view which informs his decisions in litigation.’

‘The Kirkland team has broad strength both at lower, middle and upper levels of seniority of very experienced and capable lawyers in global patent litigation. Particular strength comes from the strategic planning and analysis of multi-jurisdictional patent litigation matters, spearheaded by the senior partners and well-supported by experienced and intelligent associates.’

‘Intelligent, personable, flexible, responsive, and always professional. Nicola Dagg and Daniel Lim are standout partners. Nadia Spiccia is a standout associate. Strongly recommended.’

‘The K&E team are experts in private equity fund raising and the relevant negotiations that need to take place to make this happen. They are market leaders in this, being fast, efficient and highly technical. The team will work hard to deliver for the needs of the client, but are not afraid to push back on client instruction, suggesting alternate commercial plans.’

‘Ian Ferreira is very practical while also being detail oriented. In giving advice he is clear in his verbal reasoning, supporting the conclusions reached and giving confidence that the right outcome has been secured.’

‘A market leader in establishing funds in both Europe and the US, with expertise and experience within all relevant topics (fundraising, regulatory, tax etc.) as well as with different fund vehicles and structures.’

‘Jonathan Tadd is super skilled and has deep insights in the P&E fund space. Very knowledgeable and extremely commercially minded. He and his team have improved our fund offerings significantly. Alex Brodkin has an eye for the detail and is very diligent. With him on your team you will be sure never to leave money on the table.’

‘Commercial, committed and collaborative – generally the team is focused on getting the right outcome for the client rather than fighting legal points.’

‘I have found the Kirkland team to be professional, commercial and responsive. They bring a sense of team spirit to our project and are always ready and willing to be adaptable when timings change. Carolina Barry-Laso is always very professional while being collaborative and is a pleasure to work with.’

‘Market insight and leading fund terms.’

‘Commitment to product and technical perfection.’

‘The Kirkland & Ellis team provide invaluable support.’

‘The team are hands on, commercial and able to marry both great attention to detail and an ability to distil key points to non-legal minds.’

‘Well connected team that work cohesively within and across deals.’

‘Highly commercial and enjoyable to work with!’

‘Jonny Birks is highly knowledgeable, skilled, commercial, proactive, pragmatic and fun.’

‘Kazik Michalski is disciplined, calm and motivated with a can-do attitude.’

‘Jonny Birks has been an exceptional support to clients’ businesses, providing both legal and commercial advice. He is always on hand and available, impeccably committed and ready and able to cover the detail and stand back and appreciate the bigger picture.’

‘Outstanding experience and attention to detail from teams headed by Satnam Tumani makes them difficult to beat.’

‘Satnam Tumani has enormous experience of fraud and corruption. His understanding of the area is deep and extensive. He leads his teams well. A real pleasure to work with.’

‘This is a very well drilled team. They think of everything, in depth, many moves ahead of the opposition. If you want to win, this is the team to hire.’

‘No one knows the SFO like Satnam Tumani. It’s like having a double agent working for you. Patrick Navein is very bright, analytical and always develops an encyclopedic knowledge of any case he is working on – superb.’

‘an outstanding firm with fantastic credibility – they are among the very best of the best’

‘Satnam Tumani – formidable advocat with huge attention to detail and strategic vision. Andy Butel – a great team leader and extremely easy to deal with – massively committed and dedicated.’

‘Practical, positive and hard working.’

‘Excellent hard working team with years of white collar expertise.’

‘Lisa Cawley and Adam Skinner are recommended.’

‘The team provides a stellar legal service across the board: responsive, polished and, above all, always pragmatic. No matter how large or complex the matter or how compressed the timeframe, I have confidence that K&E will deliver. K&E has seamlessly handled any cross-border aspects of our matters (of which there are many), either through its own offices or via its network of local counsel contacts.’

‘Prem Mohan makes the complexities of UK and EU financial services regulation perfectly navigable. He is incredibly responsive and gives total commitment to any mandate.’

‘A highly experienced arbitration team across a range of arbitral bodies. Highly capable lawyers, who are flexible and dynamic, and can cope with the most complex of disputes; and while technically very able, they are also excellent at taking an approach that is rooted in sound commercial judgement, and which is most likely to get a satisfactory resolution of the case (or to be attractive to the arbitral tribunal).’

‘Strength in depth with high-calibre individuals at all levels of seniority.’

‘Rajinder Bassi is highly skilled at running a team, and a calm and reassuring presence.’

‘Rajinder Bassi stands out. A very able lawyer who is highly experienced. She steers the case calmly, and with great skill and excellent judgement even in the most tense and difficult of contentious situations.’

‘Lead partner Rajinder Bassi marks this practice. She has the ear of her clients, as a person whose advice in difficult commercial situations they can trust and rely upon.’

‘Philipp Kurek provides excellent ideas while developing matters in his charge.’

‘Philipp Kurek is truly excellent. He handles cases with ease and is a joy to work with.’

‘Philipp Kurek and Rajinder Bassi are both very strong in this area. Philipp, in particular, is a superb tactician and fantastic lawyer overall. He has masterly command of the subject and unrivalled knowledge of the detail of each of his cases and of international arbitration.’

‘Great team with real depth of technical knowledge and litigation experience.’

‘Daniel Lim – clever, engaged and commercial. Has great technical understanding as well as litigation-sense.’

‘The Kirkland team has great strength in IP cases. Led by the highly dynamic force of nature that is Nicola Dagg, clients love them and come back regularly. You only have to the look at the cases they are in and the clients they represent to see how well regarded they are. The other partners are equally strong and the associates are hardworking and bright.’

‘Daniel Lim is excellent on technical cases. Jin Ooi has as a nose for a good point. Steve Baldwin is a great lawyer who easily gets to grips with the most complex of cases.’

‘Katie Coltart is one of the more senior partners within the team. She is very bright and has a real knack for bringing through the client’s story into the litigation.’

‘The Kirkland team has broad strength both at lower, middle and upper levels of seniority of very experienced and capable lawyers in global patent litigation. Particular strength comes from the strategic planning and analysis of multi-jurisdictional patent litigation matters, spearheaded by the senior partners and well supported by experienced and intelligent associates.’

‘Jin Ooi is great to work with. He’s extremely responsive, his attention to detail to second to none and gets the bigger picture straight away. Highly recommend for patent infringement matters’

‘Nicola Dagg and Daniel Lim have well deserved reputations as patent litigators and strategists. Nicola is rightly regarded as one of the top patent litigators in Europe. She has strong relationships with top litigators across Europe and knows the nuances of patent litigation in key jurisdictions. Daniel is our go to person for all day to day interactions. He is fully immersed in all the details as well as on top of the big picture strategy of the case. He has all the qualities of a top class litigator.’

‘Susannah Amini is very knowledgeable and has good experience across the full range of fund financing products, including capital calls, NAV lending, USPP debt and GP facilities.’

‘Susannah has a practical approach with a good feel for what is achievable. She does not raise frivolous points, with real focus on what is commercially material whilst maintaining pressure to get the best result for us.’

‘Their practical approach leads to high quality advice delivered quickly. The approach not only provides a better result than other lawyers we have used, but also leads to lower fees due to efficiency.’

‘Susannah has been available on demand, with an exceptional willingness to carve out time, no matter how anti-social, to keep pressure on processes.’

‘Matthew Sinclair-Thomson is excellent. Very commercial and hardworking. Copes with complex problems with ease. Unflappable.’

‘Michael Engel is highly committed and very collaborative.’

‘Matthew Sinclair-Thomson was first class. Approachable, dependable and readily available. The advice was exceptional and very practical.’

‘The team’s accessibility, experience and practical guidance was incredibly valuable to us when considering an acquisition with global competition considerations.’

‘Paula Riedel’s expertise completely shines – she is a stand out lawyer whose guidance was both practical and immensely valuable, and she was clearly respected by all involved in the transaction (including the competition authorities). Matthew Sinclair-Thomson also provided measured and well considered guidance. Together they make a formidable team and were a pleasure to work with.’

‘Their knowledge and experience, both in terms of the industry we operate in as well the applicable legislation ensured that they asked the minimum amount of questions to us and required the minimum of information from us to make a solid determination what was necessary.’

‘We were very impressed by Sally Evans’ knowledge and the speed at which she answered questions and rendered support.’

‘Rajinder Bassi is highly skilled at running a team, and a calm and reassuring presence. Noah Stewart-Ornstein is diligent and enthusiastic.’

‘The litigation team are dynamic and proactive. They have good technical lawyers who take a highly commercial approach, with excellent application of common sense. They are not fazed by the biggest cases or problems. They are highly responsive and also extremely good to work with. Excellent team players.’

‘Rajinder Bassi stands out. She is a very able lawyer and highly experienced. Always remains calm in the most tense and fast moving of litigation circumstances, and has unfailingly sound judgement. She manages difficult cases with great skill to get the result the client wants, and is a reassuring and impressive presence on the team.’

‘Richard Boynton is a commercial litigation superstar. Having worked with him on many cases, I can safely say he would be my first port of call for any major piece of commercial litigation. He’s massively brainy; a first rate lawyer, with a very fine breadth of legal expertise; he’s brilliant at organising and running a massive case, and a large team; he’s immensely hard-working; he produces terrifyingly good documents; he’s a fearsome opponent; he’s a delightful team-leader and team-player; and he’s an excellent tactician. He’s monstrously good!’

‘Rajinder Bassi is excellent. She, rightfully, has a massive practice. She has a wonderful manner with clients, and with every member of the team that she leads so adeptly; she’s an extremely thoughtful and able lawyer and tactician; and she radiates both deep commercial experience and great confidence. Absolutely top quality.’

‘Noah Stewart-Ornstein: he’s bright, immensely hard-working, highly articulate, and very able.’

‘The Kirkland team are hugely impressive, providing the highest quality legal advice on complex cross-jurisdictional disputes. They provide advice which is to the point, and demonstrate analytical abilities that take them quickly to the real issues in any particular matter. They are a pleasure to work with, remaining accessible and proactive at all times. The support they provided was exceptional.’

‘ Rajinder Bassi, Richard Boynton, Noah Stewart-Ornstein are all of exceptional quality. Whilst working hard to ensure they meet their clients’ expectations and desires, they are always clear in their advice as to where the level of those expectations should be set. They are some of the highest quality litigators I have had the pleasure to work with.’