Kirkland & Ellis Continues Expansion of National Real Estate Practice with Hire of Two Partners in Chicago

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is pleased to announce that Andrew D. Small and Rachel S. Brown have joined the Chicago office as partners. With the addition of Mr. Small and Ms. Brown, who were previously partners of Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, Kirkland has added 10 partners with substantial real estate-related experience since March.

"Kirkland has invested in seasoned attorneys to help grow our real estate practice by adding depth and breadth to our existing core group of talented real estate lawyers. We have added partners with experience in several areas that touch important aspects of the real estate market, including fund formation, capital markets and tax, in addition to core real estate transactional and development work. Our new partners share the Firm's enthusiasm about the opportunities that lie ahead," said Jeffrey C. Hammes, Chairman of Kirkland's Global Management Executive Committee.

The new partners include Daniel Perlman and Jeffrey Rheeling, who joined the Firm one week ago from Paul Hastings in Chicago, where Mr. Perlman was the vice chair of the global real estate practice. In May, Scott Berger, Jonathan Schechter and Andrew Shiner joined the New York office from White & Case, where Mr. Berger was the head of the global real estate practice. Nationally recognized corporate and securities lawyer Edward Schneidman and tax attorney William Levy joined Kirkland from Mayer Brown's Chicago office in June, preceded by private funds lawyer Kelly Ryan, who left Mayer Brown for Kirkland in March. Mr. Schneidman and Mr. Levy have substantial real estate funds and REIT-related experience.

Mr. Small, 46, was previously the co-chair of Katten's Chicago real estate practice and served on the firm's board of directors. He has been recognized as a leading real estate lawyer by Chambers USA, America's Leading Lawyers for Business, which called him "an unusually talented guy, who combines tremendous technical skills with sound business judgment."He has also been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America and Illinois Super Lawyers.

Mr. Small concentrates his practice in commercial real estate, focusing on private equity capital raising, investment, finance (including mezzanine and preferred equity) and development of commercial real estate on behalf of real estate investors, funds, sponsors, finance companies and operating companies. He has substantial experience representing clients in connection with the formation of joint ventures to own, operate, finance and develop real estate nationally and internationally.

"Kirkland has an outstanding platform for my practice, and presented me with an exciting opportunity to collaborate with talented lawyers and contribute to the growth and development of the real estate practice," said Mr. Small.

Ms. Brown, 37, joins Kirkland from the Chicago office of Katten, where she was a partner in the real estate practice group. She focuses on finance, venture formation, real estate development, acquisitions and dispositions. She has represented banks, funds, insurance companies and other lenders in real estate-based financing transactions, including both originations of new loans as well as workouts, foreclosures, and the purchase and sale of distressed debt. Ms. Brown has been recognized as a leading lawyer by Chambers USA, America's Leading Lawyers for Business. Chambers noted that Ms. Brown "impresses clients with her 'great knowledge, responsiveness and commercial understanding.' "

The members of Kirkland's Real Estate Practice Group pursue an interdisciplinary approach to offer clients flexible and creative solutions to difficult problems across a broad range of sophisticated transactions in the commercial real estate industry. The group includes traditional real estate lawyers as well as specialists in areas like tax, private funds, infrastructure investment, capital markets and other areas, who have a substantial focus on real estate work.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP (www.kirkland.com) is a 1,500-attorney law firm representing global clients in complex real estate, corporate/private equity and tax, restructuring, litigation and dispute resolution/arbitration, and intellectual property and technology matters. The Firm has offices in Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Munich, New York, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Shanghai and Washington, D.C.