Kirkland & Ellis has recruited four investment funds lawyers across the US from Goodwin Procter, just a few months after hiring five funds partners away from the firm in Washington DC.  

The new arrivals include former Goodwin partner James Donohue and colleagues Mirela Hristova, Michelle Kim and Joseph Baron, all of whom have joined Kirkland as partners.  

Erica Berthou and Daniel Lavon-Krein, investment funds partners and members of Kirkland’s executive committee, said the new arrivals were “outstanding attorneys who, as a team, cover all of the key areas across the diversity of fund sponsors and investors”.  

Boston-based Donohue advises private investment funds, including private equity funds and venture capital funds, and their management companies on the formation of investment vehicles. He also has extensive experience in the ongoing management and operation of private investment funds.  

Meantime Hristova, who works out of Washington DC, advises private equity clients on the structuring, negotiation and management of a variety of investment vehicles, with a primary focus on large-cap private equity funds.  

New York-based Kim represents real estate and private equity fund sponsors on US and offshore offerings, including fund formation, regulatory compliance and operational matters, while Baron, who is based in Houston, advises on private investment funds and private equity secondaries.

“Kirkland’s investment funds group is where the market looks for leadership, and the firm presented a really exciting opportunity for our group to work with a highly collaborative and coordinated team on a world-class platform for private equity,” Donohue said. “We are thrilled to be here.”

Kirkland brought in revenue of more than $7bn last year and is known for its work in investment funds; its funds practice has more than 600 lawyers globally according to data from Pirical. The firm said that since the start of 2020 it has advised more than 1,700 funds closed and in process with total capital commitments in excess of $1.9trn.

Kirkland added partner Martin Strauch to the practice in Washington DC in March from Fried Frank, just a few weeks after hiring funds partners Paul Delligatti, Chris Palmer, Jason Monfort and Andrew Zutz from Goodwin in the city along with newly-minted partner Nicole Griffin.  

Delligatti had been chair of Goodwin’s investment management practice, while Palmer had headed the firm’s financial industry group. The team brought a broad investment management practice advising registered funds, which Kirkland chairman Jon Ballis noted was a “significant growth area” for the firm along with products designed for high net worth and retail investors.