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Musical Chairs: Kirkland Raids A Rival To Launch In Houston [Above The Law]
[April 23, 2014]

Musical Chairs: Kirkland Raids A Rival To Launch In Houston [Above The Law]


(Above The Law Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) As the old saying goes, the best defense is a good offense. The exceedingly prestigious and profitable Kirkland & Ellis, which has seen some partner defections in the past few months, seems to be taking that lesson to heart.



Kirkland recently launched in the hot legal market of Houston — by poaching a promising young partner from a competitor. Which super-elite firm did K&E just raid for talent? A longstanding rival in the private equity space, Simpson Thacher. Here’s a report from Legal Week: Kirkland & Ellis has opened a Houston office with the hire of M&A partner Andrew Calder from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. The base is Kirkland’s twelfth worldwide and seventh in the US, to be led by Calder, who was previously with Simpson Thacher in the city….

Specialising in M&A, securities law and corporate governance, with a focus on the energy sector, Calder’s key clients include private equity funds Blackstone Energy Partners and KKR, as well as GeoSouthern Eagle Ford Development, Alta Energy Luxembourg, Arch Coal, Petrohawk Energy Corporation and PPL Corporation among others.


Calder will be joined in K&E’s Houston office by one of his former Simpson colleagues, associate Rhett Van Syoc, and several current Kirkland lawyers who are relocating from Chicago to Houston: Benjamin Clinger, a lateral originally from Debevoise who just got promoted to share partner at K&E, as well as William Benitez, Andrew Dixon, and Kyle Watson. (This is all spelled out in the internal memo from Kirkland chairman Jeffrey Hammes, posted in full on the next page.) It seems that Kirkland likes ‘em young, at least when it comes to partners picked up from rival firms. Calder, who received his law degree from the University of Edinburgh in 2000 and joined Simpson in 2004 (after a stint at Herbert Smith), became a partner at STB effective January 2012 — so he had been a Simpson partner for just a shade over two years. Other relatively young partners that Kirkland has pirated in recent years from top-tier firms include Sean Rodgers, who was also spirited away from Simpson, and Sarkis Jebejian, who was snagged from Cravath.

How did Simpson receive the news? We’re hearing conflicting accounts. Some say Calder was not Mr. Popularity in the office and not producing as much business as expected, but others say that Simpson was unhappy to lose him: “Considering that Sean Rodgers was escorted out when he gave notice, I don’t think the firm is thrilled by another poach by Kirkland.” We have in fact heard some juicy (but unconfirmed) rumors about how Calder’s departure went down, involving IT department intrigue and folks being locked out of offices. If you know what we’re talking about and can confirm, please email us or text us: 646-820-8477.

(In the meantime, flip to the next page for the Kirkland internal memo and for collected news coverage.) KIRKLAND & ELLIS LLP — MEMORANDUM — KIRKLAND OPENS HOUSTON OFFICE AND EXPANDS CORPORATE PRACTICE WITH HIRE OF LEADING M&A ATTORNEY I am pleased to announce that leading M&A attorney Andy Calder has joined the Firm as a partner in the corporate practice of our new Houston office. Andy joins Kirkland from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in Houston.

Andy focuses on M&A, corporate and securities law, and corporate governance, with a particular focus on the energy sector. He has advised leading private equity funds such as Blackstone Energy Partners and KKR, and has advised leading companies such as GeoSouthern Eagle Ford Development LLC, Alta Energy Luxembourg S.à.r.l., Arch Coal, Inc., Petrohawk Energy Corporation and PPL Corporation, among others.

Andy holds degrees from the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice (LPC Commendation), BPP Law School London (CPE Commendation) and the University of Edinburgh (LLB Law Honors).

I am also pleased to announce that Benjamin Clinger, who will relocate to our Houston office from Chicago, has been promoted to share partner. Ben has worked with many of the Firm's significant private equity sponsors on a variety of transactions. He earned a J.D./MBA from Yale and a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University.

Also joining Andy and Benjamin in Houston initially are current Kirkland lawyers William Benitez, Andrew Dixon and Kyle Watson, who are relocating from Chicago, and Rhett Van Syoc, who previously worked with Andy at Simpson Thacher.

The attached press release will be distributed to media.

Jeffrey C. Hammes, P.C. | Kirkland & Ellis LLP 300 North LaSalle Street | Chicago, Illinois | 60654 Kirkland & Ellis opens Houston office with partner from Simpson Thacher [ABA Journal] Simpson Thacher loses corporate partner as Kirkland launches in Houston [The Lawyer] Kirkland opens Houston office with Simpson Thacher hire [Legal Week] Kirkland & Ellis LLP Opens Houston Office and Expands Corporate Practice with Hire of M&A Attorney Andrew T. Calder [Kirkland & Ellis (press release)] Earlier: What's Going On At Kirkland & Ellis? New Partner Watch: Cravath and Simpson (c) 2014 Breaking Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info, an Albawaba.com company

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