Ex-Kirkland Partner Robert Khuzami Banked $11M Partnership Share
The former head of the SEC's enforcement division is now serving as deputy U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York.
March 28, 2018 at 02:01 PM
5 minute read
The original version of this story was published on The American Lawyer
Robert Khuzami, the former Kirkland & Ellis white-collar partner who's now second-in-command at the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office, reported earning $11.1 million in partnership income in about a year's span, according to a financial disclosure released this week.
Khuzami, a Kirkland partner since 2013, joined the Southern District of New York in January as a deputy U.S. attorney to Geoffrey Berman, the current interim U.S. attorney and a former partner at Greenberg Traurig. Khuzami's financial disclosure, filed to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, is mandatory for many top-level executive positions.
The financial disclosure by Khuzami offers a glimpse at partner compensation at a firm that just overtook Latham & Watkins as the world's largest by gross revenue. Kirkland's profits per equity partner rose nearly 15 percent last year, to $4.7 million. Head count at the firm rose 13.5 percent, to nearly 2,000 lawyers.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office said the $11.1 million reflects some money Khuzami earned in 2016 but was paid in 2017 as well as money he was paid in 2017 and early 2018 before he left Kirkland. The reporting period for financial disclosures includes the current calendar year and the previous calendar year. Khuzami was formally appointed Berman's deputy on Jan. 22.
Khuzami identified the value of his Kirkland capital account at between $250,000 and $500,000, while his pension was valued at more than $500,000.
Khuzami joined Kirkland five years ago from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, where he formerly led the enforcement division.
At the time he jumped to Kirkland, to head the firm's government and internal investigations group, Khuzami reportedly was hired with a guaranteed compensation of $5 million.
A Kirkland spokeswoman said the firm does not comment on compensation matters.
At least seven other Kirkland partners in addition to Khuzami either left the firm since January 2017 to take various posts throughout the Trump administration or are awaiting U.S. Senate confirmation.
Brian Benczkowski, a partner in Washington, is the White House pick to lead the U.S. Justice Department's criminal division. Beth Williams, also in Washington, was confirmed to lead DOJ's office of legal policy. John Lausch is the U.S. attorney for Northern District of Illinois; John Eisenberg, a top White House lawyer; and Jeffrey Rosen, deputy secretary at the Transportation Department. Jeffrey Clark was the pick to lead DOJ's environmental and natural resources team, and Kate O'Scannlain was confirmed last year as the top lawyer at the U.S. Department of Labor.
Khuzami's financial disclosure identified 31 Kirkland clients for whom he provided legal services. Those clients included Walmart Inc. and its former CEO Michael Duke, Deutsche Bank AG, Navient Solutions, UBS Financial Services, The Blackstone Group LP and The Boeing Co. Khuzami also provided services to Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.'s board of directors, Teva Pharmaceuticals NA and AbbVie Inc. The disclosure reveals that Khuzami also provided legal services to Cohen & Grigsby, a law firm based in Pittsburgh.
Khuzami first joined the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan in 1990 after leaving Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. He spent more than a decade as an assistant U.S. attorney in that office. From 2002 to 2009, Khuzami held in-house roles at Deutsche Bank, first as head of litigation and regulatory investigations and then as general counsel to the Americas.
After leaving the SEC in 2013, Khuzami said that many Am Law 100 firms courted him. There was a “significant amount of interest early on,” he said in an interview at the time. Khuzami said he spoke with some 30 Kirkland partners before choosing the firm.
“It's kind of like getting married,” Khuzami said about his recruitment process five years ago. “You know she's the one, but sometimes it takes a little longer to decide. Although if I had chosen to stay in New York I think I would have ended up at Kirkland anyway.”
Brian Baxter in New York contributed reporting.
Khuzami's financial disclosure is posted below:
Read more:
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
© 2024 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 AllTravis Lenkner Returns to Burford Capital With an Eye on Future Growth Opportunities
Legal Speak's 'Sidebar With Saul' Part V: Strange Days of Trump Trial Culminate in Historic Verdict
1 minute readLegal Speak's 'Sidebar with Saul' Part IV: Deliberations Begin in First Trump Criminal Trial
1 minute readJosh Partington of Snell & Wilmer Is in Fact a Rock Star in the Office (and Out of It)
1 minute readTrending Stories
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
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