Illinois

Firm overview

Firm overview

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is a global law firm with more than 3,500 attorneys representing clients in private equity, M&A and other complex corporate transactions, litigation and dispute resolution/arbitration, restructuring, and intellectual property matters. The Firm has offices in 20 cities around the world: Austin, Bay Area, Beijing, Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Munich, New York, Paris, Riyadh, Salt Lake City, Shanghai and Washington, D.C.

Litigation:
Kirkland & Ellis is renowned for its experience in complex litigation and arbitration. The Firm believes that the best litigation results occur when the lawyers are fully prepared to try the case through verdict. Because of Kirkland’s trial-ready philosophy and training, the Firm is able to offer clients a deep bench of lawyers who have been taking cases to verdict since the early stages of their careers. Whether in the courtroom, at the bargaining table or helping clients avoid risks without litigation, Kirkland has a long and proven track record of generating successful results for clients in their most high-stakes cases matters.

The Litigation Practice Group comprises approximately 625 attorneys throughout the firm’s worldwide offices. Kirkland represents clients in trial and appellate courts at the federal and state level, before administrative tribunals, and in arbitrations and other dispute resolution proceedings. The Firm also represents clients in connection with proceedings involving government agencies, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, US Attorneys General Offices, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the New York Stock Exchange, the US Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, the US Patent and Trademark Office, the US Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service.

Kirkland litigators have successfully litigated cases in virtually every substantive area and business segment including accountant liability, antitrust and competition, appellate, class action, mass tort and toxic tort, insurance, data privacy, labor and employment, breach of contract and securities litigation.

Kirkland has been recognized by clients and the media for its achievements in litigation:

• For the 13th time, Kirkland was selected as one of the “Fearsome Foursome” in BTI Consulting’s 2024 Litigation Outlook report.
• Chambers & Partners named Kirkland & Ellis “Commercial Litigation Law Firm of the Year” at the 2023 Chambers USA Awards.
• In 2023, Kirkland ranked #1 in The Lawyer’s “Global Litigation Top 50,” the sixth consecutive year the Firm earned that distinction.
• Kirkland was named “Law Firm of the Year” for Commercial Litigation by U.S. News and World Report and Best Lawyers in their 2022 “Best Law Firms” rankings.

Intellectual Property Litigation:
Kirkland & Ellis’ Intellectual Property Practice Group is one of the oldest such practices in a full-service firm in the country, having been an integral part of Kirkland since 1925. Kirkland has approximately 200 intellectual property lawyers who are experienced in a variety of technical disciplines and registered to practice before the US Patent and Trademark Office. More than 70 percent of the lawyers are engineers and scientists trained with degrees and professional backgrounds in technical areas. Kirkland has one of the most respected intellectual property litigation practices in the country, with particular experience in large-scale patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret misappropriation and advertising matters. The work of the group frequently extends to antitrust, securities/compliance, products liability and appellate matters. Kirkland’s experience in venues where IP cases are most often litigated is extensive. The Firm tries cases before juries, judges and arbitrators in venues across the country including state courts, district courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the International Trade Commission and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Kirkland has one of the most active trial practices in the country. Our success rate at trial is among the best, with only a few of losses over the last 10 years despite handling some of the most challenging litigation cases in history.

The Intellectual Property Practice Group has been recognized by numerous publications for its achievements:

• In Managing Intellectual Property’s 2024 IP Stars, Kirkland was named as a Tier 1 firm for Copyright, ITC, Life Sciences, Patent Contentious and Trademark Contentious and was recognized in the U.S. for IP transactions and PTAB litigation.
• Kirkland was named to World Trademark Review magazine’s 2024 WTR 1000
list of the world’s top trademark law firms and was recognized as a Tier 1 firm for enforcement and litigation nationally and in New York.
• In 2024, Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) magazine recognized Kirkland in Tier 1 for Litigation, International Trade Commission and Trade Secrets for United States -National in its IAM Patent 1000 guide. The firm was also Tier 1 for Litigation in Illinois, New York and Washington, D.C., as well as Transactions in Illinois.
• World Intellectual Property Review (WIPR) recognized Kirkland & Ellis as a Tier 1 firm in its 2022 “Global Trade Secrets Rankings.”

Please visit our website at www.kirkland.com for additional information about Kirkland and office contact information.

Updated July 2024

Firm overview

In today’s legal and regulatory environment, litigation can threaten a company’s very existence. Skadden’s lawyers have extensive experience with such complex, “bet-the-company” litigation matters, and we are widely recognized for our ability to handle our clients’ most critical litigation issues. The firm can rapidly assemble a focused, integrated and efficient team to address all important aspects of a client’s problem and to handle numerous cases in multiple jurisdictions and forums. We have handled some of the largest and most high-profile cases in recent years, earning a reputation as a go-to firm for litigation, and we are responsible for numerous decisions, from the trial courts to the U.S. Supreme Court, that have shaped various areas of law.

Our Litigation Group comprises approximately 600 attorneys throughout the firm’s offices worldwide, and Skadden attorneys are admitted to practice throughout the United States as well as in more than 30 other countries and territories. In particular, our New York- based attorneys have extensively litigated in New York state and federal courts. Moreover, Skadden was the first national law firm to establish a presence in Delaware more than 40 years ago, and our Delaware litigation attorneys have a wealth of experience in the renowned Court of Chancery. Our California-based offices, in Los Angeles and Palo Alto, as well as our Washington D.C., Chicago, Boston and Houston offices, round out our national presence, allowing us to effectively handle complex disputes that may arise in any U.S. jurisdiction, or several jurisdictions at once. Our international experience, through offices in Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America, and our numerous multilingual attorneys, further enable us to seamlessly represent clients globally and to successfully handle disputes of an international nature.

We represent clients in all stages of litigation, from applying cutting edge e-discovery capabilities to trials. Indeed, Skadden is recognized as having a leading national trial practice, and our attorneys score groundbreaking precedent-setting trial wins that are highly favorable to our clients’ bottom line. Our trial lawyers often inherit cases from other firms when trial is imminent, and we offer the capabilities to quickly pull together crisis teams to confront challenges wherever our clients face them. Moreover, our attorneys are no strangers to appellate state and federal courts throughout the country. We also frequently appear in arbitral forums, including the American Arbitration Association, JAMS, FINRA, the International Centre for Dispute Resolution and other domestic and international dispute resolution tribunals.

Our team represents clients in proceedings involving numerous government agencies, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Attorney General’s Office, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the New York Stock Exchange, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the U.S. Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service. We also serve in an advisory capacity, striving to achieve results that best align with our clients’ business goals.

Our attorneys have significant experience litigating all types of complex commercial claims, including contract disputes; fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and tortious interference claims; non-compete litigation; merger-related litigation and control disputes; joint venture and partnership disputes; bankruptcy and restructuring-related issues; and statutory claims. Our renowned securities litigation practice frequently handles some of the most challenging, high-stakes securities litigation matters, and we have served as lead counsel in several of the largest securities class actions in U.S. history. Our experience in these and other complex litigation claims spans numerous industries, including banking, energy, financial services, insurance, health care, manufacturing, mortgage, pharmaceutical, real estate, retail, technology and telecommunications.

In addition to handling some of the largest, most complex litigations, Skadden attorneys represent clients in a wide variety of pro bono matters, from trials to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Updated Sep 2024

Firm overview

MoloLamken is a law firm focused exclusively on representing clients in complex disputes. It handles civil, criminal, and regulatory matters, as well as appeals, across the United States. The firm’s clients span the globe. MoloLamken is involved in some of the most significant disputes of the day. 

The firm’s founding partners, Steven Molo and Jeffrey Lamken, developed national reputations based on their courtroom successes while partners at large full-service firms where they held leadership positions. With an abiding belief that complex disputes are most effectively handled by smaller teams comprised of smart, highly experienced lawyers focused on results rather than process, they formed the firm. 

MoloLamken provides experienced advocacy – for claimants as well as defendants – before judges, juries, arbitral forums, and courts of appeals, including the Supreme Court of the United States. The firm also represents clients in regulatory and criminal investigations and conducts internal investigations.

Main Areas of Practice: 

• Appeals
• Arbitration
• Bankruptcy, Insolvency and Restructuring Litigation
• Complex Business Litigation
• Intellectual Property and Technology
• Internal Investigations
• Regulatory
• Securities Litigation
• Supreme Court
• White Collar Defense and Investigations