Former Kirkland London Chief to Leave Firm
Kirkland's London office has grown exponentially since it launched in 1994.
August 21, 2019 at 11:21 AM
2 minute read
Credit: Melinda Nagy/Shutterstock.com
Kirkland & Ellis former London head and private equity star James Learner is to retire from the firm this year.
Learner is set to leave the U.S. firm after a total of 30 years at the outfit, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
He joined Kirkland in Chicago in 1987 and was part of the team that helped launch a base in the U.K. capital in 1994.
He relocated to London in 2000 to lead the office as well as the firm's European operations. During that time, he also served as a member of the firm's global executive committee.
In 2011, he advised a consortium consisting of private equity houses Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman on its £2.1 billion buyout of Swedish private equity firm EQT's European alarm and security company Securitas Direct.
The following year, he left the firm to join U.S. private equity firm Huntsman Gay as managing director, based in its Palo Alto branch.
Three years later, he returned to the London office of Kirkland as a partner.
His work principally involves representing private equity firms in their leveraged buyout and growth capital investing and in their fund formation activities, acting for key client Bain Capital as well as other private equity houses including Cinven, Apax Partners, Apollo Management and Towerbrook Capital Partners.
Last year, he was part of the elite U.S. firm's team advising Bain and Cinven when it bought German pharmaceutical company Stada for €5.3 billion.
Kirkland and Learner did not respond to requests for comment.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Deacons Hires Reed Smith’s Banking Partner in Hong Kong
Amazon Corporate Counsel in Brussels Returns to US Firm in ‘Boomerang Hire’
2 minute readTrending Stories
- 1With New Civil Jury Selection Rule, Litigants Should Carefully Weigh Waiver Risks
- 2Young Lawyers Become Old(er) Lawyers
- 3Caught In the In Between: A Legal Roadmap for the Sandwich Generation
- 4Top 10 Developments, Lessons, and Reminders of 2024
- 5Gift and Estate Tax Opportunities and Potential Traps in 2025 for Our New York High Net Worth Clients
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
