Kirkland & Ellis Adds Kirkham

Law firm added Kirkland & Ellis added Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati attorney Christopher Kirkman to its ranks as a partner in the debt finance practice. He will work in Kirkland & Ellis’ San Francisco office. Kirkham was also a partner in the corporate finance practice at O’Melveny & Myers LLP.

PRESS RELEASE:

Kirkland & Ellis Strengthens West Coast Corporate Practice with Addition of Debt Finance Lawyer Christopher Kirkham
SAN FRANCISCO, April 25, 2011—Christopher Kirkham has joined the San Francisco office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP as a partner in the debt finance practice. Mr. Kirkham joins the Firm from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in San Francisco, where he was a partner.
“Christopher is a highly respected attorney with substantial experience across a broad range of finance and capital markets matters. He is a natural fit for our existing debt finance group and an important addition for our growing West Coast practice,” said Jeffrey C. Hammes, Chairman of Kirkland’s Global Management Executive Committee.
Mr. Kirkham represents private equity sponsors, commercial borrowers and financial institutions in secured and unsecured senior and mezzanine debt financing transactions, and related workouts and restructurings. He has also advised on cross-border financings and leveraged acquisition transactions, as well as distressed acquisition financings and credit facilities for investment funds. Mr. Kirkham has also represented underwriters and private issuers in capital markets transactions involving U.S. registered and privately placed equity and debt offerings, and represented buyers, targets and financial advisers in public and private M&A transactions.
Prior to joining Wilson Sonsini, Mr. Kirkham was a partner in the corporate finance practice at O’Melveny & Myers LLP. Early in his career, he clerked for the Honorable David A.O. Edward of the Court of Justice of the European Communities in Luxembourg.
Mr. Kirkham, 41, earned a law degree at Columbia Law School, where he was editor of the Columbia Law Review and editor in chief of The Columbia Journal of European Law. He also holds a master’s degree in international affairs, economics of E.U. integration, from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of York.
Kirkland & Ellis is a 1,500-attorney law firm representing global clients in complex debt finance, corporate, restructuring and tax, litigation and dispute resolution/arbitration, and intellectual property and technology matters. The Firm has offices in San Francisco, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Munich, New York, Palo Alto, Shanghai and Washington, D.C. Kirkland’s debt finance practice includes nearly 90 attorneys firmwide. With the addition of Mr. Kirkham, the Firm has nine partners leading the debt finance practice on the West Coast.