Guillemette Chamayou

Kirkland is pleased to announce the selection of Amelia Goldberg and Sophia Berg as its 2024–2025 Kirkland & Ellis New York City Public Service Fellows. Both Fellows demonstrate outstanding academic achievement and a deep commitment to pursuing public service work in New York City. Amelia, from NYU School of Law, will work at Family Justice Law Center, assisting survivors of intimate partner violence who are subjected to heightened surveillance by the Administration for Children’s Services and New York family courts. The project seeks to use strategic appeals to correct New York’s interpretation of the law. Sophia, from Columbia Law School, will work at Sanctuary for Families to create legal options for victims of gender-based violence, including access to healthcare. These efforts will involve advocating for clients, representing them directly, and providing training and educational materials to other attorneys representing such clients. Every year since 1995, Kirkland has funded at least one graduating student from each NYU School of Law and Columbia Law School to pursue a yearlong public service project that principally and directly benefits residents of the city’s five boroughs. Fellows may create and fill a new position within an already-existing organization or pursue an independent project affiliated with a sponsoring organization. Kirkland partner Shanti Sadtler Conway coordinates and leads the Fellowship. Every year, each Fellow is selected by a panel that includes a Kirkland partner, a Kirkland client, a sitting New York City judge, a public service attorney and the current Fellow from the other law school. This year, a panel headed by partner Norm Champ led the selection process for applicants from NYU School of Law, and a panel headed by partner Guillemette Chamayou led the selection process for applicants from Columbia School of Law.

Jul 31

1 min

Kirkland & Ells advised Ziff Davis, Inc. (Nasdaq: ZD) on a definitive agreement to sell its Connectivity division to Accenture (NYSE: ACN) for $1.2 billion in cash. Ziff Davis’ Connectivity brands are globally recognized in fixed broadband, mobile and Wi-Fi network design, intelligence, insights, testing and incident detection. These brands, including Ookla, Speedtest, Ekahau, Downdetector and RootMetrics, empower organizations to optimize networks, elevate digital experiences and ensure faster, more reliable connectivity. The transaction is currently expected to close in the coming months, subject to the satisfaction of certain closing conditions and receipt of required regulatory approvals. Read the transaction press release The Kirkland team included corporate lawyers David Klein, Andrew Norwich and Daniel Wolf; tax lawyer Sara Zablotney; executive compensation lawyer Rob Fowler; capital markets lawyers Sophia Hudson and Zoey Hitzert; antitrust & competition lawyer Daniel Zach; and technology & IP transactions lawyer Daisy Darvall.

Mar 3

1 min

Westchester Surplus Lines Insurance Co. and multiple Florida homeowners associations have ended their dispute in Florida federal court over the associations' more than $230 million insurance claim for Pensacola Beach condominiums damaged by Hurricane Sally. According to their joint dismissal stipulation filed Monday, Westchester Surplus and the homeowners associations have agreed to permanently dismiss their claims against each other. The insurer and the homeowners associations initially told the court in February that they decided to settle their dispute and planned to file a joint dismissal stipulation. Westchester Surplus and 15 other insurers began their suit against the homeowners associations in January 2023. According to their amended suit, an appraiser picked by the defendants filed "an egregiously overinflated" hurricane damages claim for more than $230 million. The insurers alleged that the defendants asked for an appraisal after Hurricane Sally hit and filed a more than $6.4 million sworn proof of loss claim. But, according to the insurers, this claim eventually "ballooned to an amount wholly detached from any actual damage resulting from the hurricane." "In particular, the defendants' selected appraiser submitted estimates to the appraisal panel that include charges that are wholly improper, overstated, unrelated, duplicative, and attempt to turn the defendants' legitimate loss into a once-in-a-lifetime windfall at plaintiffs' expense," the insurers alleged. "Defendants' appraiser increased the value of the claim from the unsolicited sworn proof of loss by over $225 million when he submitted an outrageous $233,030,601.80 claim to the appraisal panel, which raises significant questions concerning the appraiser's interest and honesty, as well as the fraudulent nature of the claim and its supporting documentation," they further alleged. In September 2023, the defendants filed counterclaims against the insurers, alleging that the insurers breached their insurance policies by wrongfully refusing to pay for the appraised hurricane damage. However, in September 2025, the presiding court nixed the defendants' $187 million appraisal award, ruling that the defendants' appraiser failed to properly state how much the condominiums were damaged by Hurricane Sally. Counsel for Westchester Surplus and the defendants didn't respond to requests for comment Tuesday. Westchester Surplus Lines Insurance Co. and multiple other insurers are represented by Alexandra J. Schultz, Juan P. Garrido and John D. Dickenson of Cozen O'Connor. The Portofino defendants are represented by Edward P. Fleming, Matthew A. Bush and Aaron T. McCurdy of McDonald Fleming LLP, Kurtis J. Keefer of Goede DeBoest & Cross PLLC and Charles F. Beall Jr. of Moore Hill & Westmoreland PA. The case is Westchester Surplus Lines Insurance Co. et al. v. Portofino Masters Homeowners Association Inc. et al., case number 3:23-cv-00453, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.

Mar 3

2 min

Kirkland represented FTV Capital (FTV) on a minority investment in FTV from funds managed by Blackstone GP Stakes. FTV has a 25-year track record of investing in innovative, high-growth companies across the enterprise technology, financial services and payments landscapes and will benefit from this new partnership with one of the world’s leading investment firms. Blackstone GP Stakes specializes in value-added, long-term investments in the management companies of leading private equity firms, making available a wide range of proprietary Blackstone resources to help these firms realize their ambitions. Read FTV’s press release The Kirkland team was led by investment funds partners Emma Lange-Novak, Daniel Lavon-Krein, Guillemette Chamayou and Saif Iqbal Shah Mohammed, and included investment funds partner Karin Orsic; investment funds regulatory partner Nick Hemmingsen; corporate associate Zack Theo; tax partner Joel Peters-Fransen and associate Allison Bray; and capital markets partner Lisa Zhang.

May 10

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is pleased to announce that 193 attorneys have been promoted to partner effective October 1, 2022. Austin Name Practice Area Sean McClay Debt Finance Bay Area Name Practice Area Katya Boyko M&A and Private Equity Kyle Calhoun Intellectual Property Litigation Andrew Chan Tax Courtney Chen Investment Funds Zeke Couch Investment Funds Michael Hanna M&A and Private Equity Jared Maher M&A and Private Equity Ankur Sharma M&A and Private Equity Jessica Tjang Debt Finance Beijing Name Practice Area Justin You Zhou Capital Markets Boston Name Practice Area Brian Allen Investment Funds S. Grant Bowen Debt Finance Larissa Cespedes-Yaffar M&A and Private Equity Charles Chen Investment Funds Alexander Flynn-Tabloff Employment & Labor Tiffany M. Knapp Intellectual Property Litigation Scott Lenahan Investment Funds Alisha Patterson Investment Funds Chicago Name Practice Area Amelia Bailey Litigation Michael F. Black Investment Funds Kelsey Bleiweiss Litigation Cassandra Catalano Litigation Chris Chase Employee Benefits Bernadette Coppola Technology & IP Transactions Lee Discher Debt Finance Hannah Ehrenberg Real Estate Cot Eversole Capital Markets Cameron Ginder Litigation Jessica Giulitto Litigation Emily Hogan Debt Finance Kevin Jacobsen Technology & IP Transactions Nathan Jimenez Investment Funds Justin Joffe M&A and Private Equity Deidre Kalenderian Executive Compensation James Kestler Litigation Dan Latona Restructuring Michael LeFevour Litigation Patrick Loughery Debt Finance Caroline Lourgos Intellectual Property Litigation Kevin McClelland Restructuring Ryan McNish Investment Funds Taylor Melching M&A and Private Equity A.J. Million Capital Markets Patricia Radkowski Litigation Bruce Ratain Intellectual Property Litigation Tricia Schwallier Collins Restructuring Ashley Sinclair Capital Markets Kevin Stocks M&A and Private Equity Andrew Struckmeyer M&A and Private Equity Eric Sweigard M&A and Private Equity Julia Trotta Investment Funds Jordan Turban Miles M&A and Private Equity Patrick Valenti Investment Funds Daniella Vespoli M&A and Private Equity Neil Vohra M&A and Private Equity Kate Walling Litigation Andrew Walter Intellectual Property Litigation Jenny Warfield Real Estate Nicholas Warther Tax Michael Wester Investment Funds Margaret Yeager Private Equity/Private Investment & Family Office Ziyad Ziyadzade M&A and Private Equity Dallas Name Practice Area Victoria Acuff Real Estate Noah Allen Capital Markets Layton Bell Debt Finance Rudgee S. Charles Asset Finance & Securitization William C. Eiland II M&A and Private Equity Rebecca Fine Tax Ruben Garcia Litigation Catharine Hansard M&A and Private Equity Sable Hodson Litigation Randall W. Miller Litigation Hong Kong Name Practice Area Ryan Choi Capital Markets Min Lu M&A and Private Equity Stacey Shen M&A and Private Equity Shinong Wang Investment Funds Ling Zhu Investment Funds Houston Name Practice Area Jennifer Cornejo Environmental Transactions Patrick Corrigan M&A and Private Equity Alia Heintz M&A and Private Equity Ieuan List Capital Markets Rex Manning Litigation Patrick Y. Moneypenny M&A and Private Equity Ryan Phelps Tax Scott Reid Debt Finance Anthony Sanderson Capital Markets Zach Savrick M&A and Private Equity Shainee Shah Litigation Billy Vranish Capital Markets Camille Walker M&A and Private Equity Fraser Wayne M&A and Private Equity London Name Practice Area Gabriella Bornstein Intellectual Property Litigation Aisling Campbell Investment Funds Jacqueline Clover Technology & IP Transactions Chris Connolly M&A and Private Equity Daniel D’Ambrosio ESG and Impact Sion Davies Antitrust & Competition John de Rohan-Truba Intellectual Property Litigation Jack Donelan M&A and Private Equity Emma Faulkner-Hill Tax Joel Gory Antitrust & Competition Ben Hai M&A and Private Equity Rehan Hanif Debt Finance Gabe Harley Restructuring Hamesh Khatkar M&A and Private Equity Victoria Legg M&A and Private Equity Chrystel Marincich Capital Markets Patrick Navein Litigation Jiri Peterka M&A and Private Equity Lorenza Prelz Oltramonti Investment Funds David Pritchett Investment Funds Emma Reid Financial Services Regulatory Oscar Robinson Intellectual Property Litigation Claire Rushton M&A and Private Equity Shahrzad Sadjadi Antitrust & Competition Noah Stewart-Ornstein Litigation Jamie Thomson Investment Funds Los Angeles Name Practice Area Yvonne Beeler Intellectual Property Litigation Matthew Benedetto M&A and Private Equity Sam Blake Intellectual Property Litigation Yungmoon Chang Intellectual Property Litigation Eric Cohen M&A and Private Equity Caroline Epstein Debt Finance Amelia Gordon Debt Finance Andrew Hurley Debt Finance Garry Padrta M&A and Private Equity Ingrid Petersen Intellectual Property Litigation Christopher Raidy Debt Finance Michael Rosenberg Litigation Matthew Summers Litigation Munich Name Practice Area Marlene Ruf Restructuring New York Name Practice Area Sara Allawi Investment Funds Rachael Bentley Restructuring Guillemette Chamayou Investment Funds Jacob Clark Real Estate Linda Dahl Investment Funds Nathaniel DeLucia Intellectual Property Litigation Samuel Dykstra Environmental Transactions Vera Esses Litigation Ciara Foster Restructuring Peter C. Fritz M&A and Private Equity Asaf Gamzo Investment Funds J. Todd Garcia, Jr. Antitrust & Competition Olivia George Debt Finance Zoey Hitzert Capital Markets Timothy Hughes Debt Finance Derek Hunter Restructuring Rex Hupy M&A and Private Equity Jake Jung Tax Olga Kamensky Investment Funds Jennifer Karinen Capital Markets Kim Kaufman Investment Funds Katy Kim Investment Funds John Kleinjan Executive Compensation Jenny Lee Litigation Christie Mok Capital Markets Thomas Norelli Trusts & Estates Eugene Park Debt Finance Leila Ravi Debt Finance Brittany Roger Debt Finance Joanna Schlingbaum Technology & IP Transactions Fishel Schreiber Executive Compensation Ned Schultheis M&A and Private Equity Allyson Smith Restructuring Dominic Spence Real Estate Haley Stern Litigation Amanda Katlowitz Strickler Investment Funds David M. Towarnicky M&A and Private Equity Charles Wehbe M&A and Private Equity Colin Zelicof M&A and Private Equity Salt Lake City Name Practice Area Paul Hendrickson Tax Cameron Leishman M&A and Private Equity Matthew Pinegar Investment Funds Elena Simion M&A and Private Equity Spencer Topham M&A and Private Equity Shanghai Name Practice Area Sally Han Litigation Nelson Ni M&A and Private Equity Washington D.C. Name Practice Area Patrick Arnett Intellectual Property Litigation David Branham Executive Compensation Erin Cady Litigation Katherine Canning Litigation Steven Cantor Tax Michelle Sliwinski DeMaio Environmental Transactions Katie Drummonds Antitrust & Competition Lucie Duvall Antitrust & Competition/Consumer Protection Don Hong Litigation Mary Miller Litigation Karthik Ravishankar Intellectual Property Litigation Emily Scott Intellectual Property Litigation Ben Wallace Litigation Sally Ye Executive Compensation Note: For certain partners, admission will take effect when any necessary regulatory requirements have been satisfied.

Oct 3

4 min