Drinks With The Deal: Kirkland’s Lee Talks About Webtoon IPO, Changes in Legal Industry
In this episode of "Drinks With The Deal," partner Ed Lee discusses his pride in helping take media and technology company Webtoon public and how the legal industry has evolved over his career.
“Across the entire arc of what private equity firms do, they need and rely on top quality legal advice, and that’s driven a real demand for high-end legal services. ... Firms have had to adapt in order to be able to serve the demand. ... Kirkland is an example of that and has really leaned into setting itself up be able to serve both the large corporates but also private equity firms really effectively across all of their most critical needs.”
Ed also shared his experiences working at Kirkland, which he joined in 2021: “The mentality is if we’re able to do something to make the firm stronger that’s good for everyone, and we’re going to be partners and friends and do this together. I consider many of my partners some of my closest personal friends, and we have a lot of fun together both professionally and personally.”
Of his first deal at Kirkland, which occurred shortly after his arrival, Ed recalled: “... Being able to work with some of the incredibly talented people across the different practice areas and feeling like I have this team and network and platform here at Kirkland that’s going to support a successful practice – I’ll always remember that.”
