Ms Nicole Washington > 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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Ms Nicole Washington

Position
Nicole Washington is a partner in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where she is a key member of the Firm’s Investment Funds Group. Nicole regularly represents domestic and international sponsors on forming, marketing and operating private investment funds, including buyout, secondary, direct lending, special situations, growth, mezzanine, opportunistic, real estate, infrastructure and other private investment vehicles, as well as on structuring, regulatory and compliance issues. She also advises some of the world’s most sophisticated private fund sponsors on internal management and succession planning, strategic investments, co-investment arrangements, joint ventures, and other investment management matters.
Nicole’s experience also includes representing some of the largest and most diversified asset managers, as well as numerous small and middle-market managers on the formation of private investment funds ranging from several hundred million to multibillion dollars. Additionally, Nicole has significant experience in forming and negotiating managed accounts and single investor funds.
Nicole serves as co-chair of Kirkland’s Transactional Associate Review Committee, and is a member of the Committees on Billings and Collections, Diversity and Inclusion and Firmwide Recruiting. She also serves on the board of PeacePlayers International, a non-profit organization which uses basketball to unite and educate children and their communities. In 2020, Nicole was named by Law360 to the Fund Formation “Rising Stars” list, an annual ranking which recognizes outstanding legal talent under 40 years old.
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Investment fund formation and management > Private equity funds (including venture capital)
(Next Generation Partners)Kirkland & Ellis LLP maintains a strong position in the private equity space, serving a broad client roster that spans across middle-market and smaller managers to preeminent private equity firms and global investors. The team covers private fund formation and maintenance across every asset class, appearing on behalf of both the sponsor and investor on complex fund formations, restructurings, transactions and related regulatory matters. ohn O’Neil is a preeminent name in this space and services funds of all kinds from the Chicago office. Practice co-head Erica Berthou and Andrew Wright
bolster the firm’s New York office, with the former having experience in fund formation in emerging markets, next to advising on strategic private investments, while the latter has extensive experience with funds focused on industry sectors. Further key names in New York are Katrina Rowe, whose broad advisory offering encompasses buyout, credit and distressed debt funds, co-investment arrangements as well as compliance and regulatory matters and fellow co-head Daniel Lavon-Krein who is co-head of the firm’s strategic GP Advisory practice. In Chicago, Kelly Ryan and Katie St. Peters are names of note, while Nicole Washington is a key contact in Washington DC. In January 2023 John Senior joined the New York office from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, and is part of the liquidity solutions team, while in November of the same year, David Sherman rejoined the practice from Latham & Watkins LLP. In April 2024, James Donohue joined from Goodwin in Boston, while Martin Strauch joined the DC office from Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP. Susan Burkhardt joined from Clifford Chance in April 2025.
Lawyer Rankings
- Next Generation Partners United States > Investment fund formation and management > Private equity funds (including venture capital)
- Private equity funds (including venture capital) United States > Investment fund formation and management
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Media, technology and telecoms > Advertising and marketing: litigation
- Finance > Capital markets: high-yield debt offerings
- International trade and national security > 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+)
- 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
- 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
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Investment fund formation and management > Mutual/registered/exchange-traded funds
- 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
- Real estate > Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
- Energy > Renewable/alternative power
- Government > State attorneys general
- Finance > Structured finance: securitization
- Tax > US taxes: contentious
- Dispute resolution > E-discovery
- Environment > Environment: litigation
- Dispute resolution > Financial services litigation
- Insurance > Insurance: non-contentious
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: litigation
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: transactional
- Finance > Project finance
- Intellectual property > Trademarks: non-contentious (including prosecution, portfolio management and licensing)
- International trade and national security > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
- Energy > Energy regulation: oil and gas
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- 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
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Shareholder activism