Kirkland Opens Austin Office
Kirkland & Ellis announced today that it is expanding with the opening of an office in Austin, Tex., which will be located in Frost Bank Tower, 401 Congress Avenue.
“Our lawyers in Texas have built an outstanding platform and vibrant presence in the state. This expansion to Austin places us in a dynamic city at the center of exciting changes in the infrastructure, technology and energy sectors,” said Jon A. Ballis, Chairman of Kirkland’s Executive Committee. “We look forward to becoming an integral part of the Austin business community.”
Kirkland’s Austin office will open with partners Marc Browning, Stephen Butler, Kim Hicks and Doug Tedeschi relocating to Austin to help launch the office. They will initially be joined by approximately 20 additional attorneys who are either relocating from other Kirkland offices, or lateral hires.
Mr. Browning, a corporate partner who previously worked in Kirkland’s Bay Area and Houston offices, focuses his practice on leveraged buyouts of private and public companies, strategic mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures, and growth equity and PIPE investments.
Ms. Hicks is a corporate partner from the Firm’s Houston office. She focuses on public mergers and acquisitions, take private transactions, private equity investments, joint ventures and corporate governance matters in the infrastructure, energy transition and technology sectors.
Mr. Butler, a tax partner from Kirkland’s Houston office, handles the tax aspects of complex business transactions and reorganizations, with a particular concentration on private equity and real estate fund formation, infrastructure and energy investments, REITs and real estate joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, and bankruptcy restructurings.
Mr. Tedeschi is a debt finance partner who hails from the Firm’s Chicago office, and helps private equity firms and public and private companies negotiate and document debt financings, primarily in connection with acquisitions and restructurings.
“Austin has become a significant hub for technology, renewables and alternative energy, an area where we have leading teams and significant experience. Opening an Austin office will expand our capacity to meet clients’ needs in this rapidly evolving space,” said Andy Calder, a partner and member of Kirkland’s Executive Committee. “An Austin office also helps us further position Kirkland as an attractive place for new and lateral lawyers who want to work in Texas.”
The new Austin office is Kirkland’s 16th location, tenth in the U.S. and third in Texas. The Firm’s presence in the state has grown to include nearly 300 lawyers across offices in Houston and Dallas. Since 2017, Mergermarket has ranked Kirkland No. 1 for representing Texas-based companies in M&A based on deal volume. In 2020 alone, Kirkland was involved in more M&A transactions representing Texas-based companies than the next two firms combined.
Kirkland’s energy practice was recognized by Law360 as a 2020 Practice Group of the Year and by The American Lawyer as 2020 Energy Department of the Year. The Firm’s technology practice combines market-leading private equity expertise with deep industry experience through the Firm’s offices in Palo Alto and San Francisco.
Kirkland opened the Houston office in April 2014 and the Dallas office in July 2018.
