With offices across the US, including Houston, New York and Washington DC, Kirkland & Ellis LLP‘s environmental practice is well-equipped to advise a wide range of clients, particularly leading private equity firms and major players in the energy and infrastructure sectors, on the full range of high-value environmental transactions. In tandem with their regular advisory role in environmental due diligence matters, the team exhibits considerable strength in the transactional space, where it managed complex M&As, multinational acquisitions and divestitures, and various project financing matters. From the San Francisco office, Paul Tanaka leads the practice, routinely assisting energy and infrastructure clients with environmental due diligence assessments, liability and risk allocation issues, and transactions in the power generation, oil and gas, and renewable energy sectors. Dallas-based Jonathan Kidwell leads the firm’s global environmental practice on energy and infrastructure matters, advising on environmental compliance and liability issues related to corporate M&A and divestitures, an area in which Washington DC-based Carleigh Trappe Rodriguez is also well versed. Michael Saretsky splits his time between New York and Bay Area and is an expert in environmental-related business transactions, while environmental due diligence specialist Stefanie Gitler, based between Washington DC and Houston, and Houston’s James Dolphin are also recommended.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'I work with many of the partners in the environmental transactional team, which includes excellent lawyers who do very high quality work. They are detail-oriented, client-focused and commercially minded.'
  • 'The team is flexible and strives to achieve the best possible results for the clients.'
  • 'Paul Tanaka has been an excellent resource in our transactions. His responsiveness and clear communication set him apart from other environmental support partners, especially in distinguishing minor problems from life-threatening ones.'
  • 'Deep bench. Great talent at the top. Strong ability to cultivate future leaders.'
  • 'I always find Kirkland to be the best at what they do. They are the most customer-focused and rigorously control all aspects of the process to ensure that the transaction goes smoothly and efficiently.'
  • 'The firm has a wide and deep in-house expertise.'

Key clients

  • Apax Partners
  • ASPEQ Heating Group
  • BAE Systems, Inc.
  • Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P.
  • Civitas Resources
  • EQT Corporation
  • Global Infrastructure Partners
  • Greenbriar Equity
  • Hermetic Solutions Group Inc.
  • Huntsman Corporation
  • I Squared Capital LLC
  • Kinderhook Industries LLC
  • Lone Star Funds
  • Ovintiv Inc.
  • Patient Square Capital
  • Platinum Equity LLC
  • Sentinel Capital Partners
  • Transom Capital Group LLC

Work highlights

  • Advised Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in its agreement with Intel to fund a $30 billion semiconductor plant.
  • Advised Global Infrastructure Partners in its $18.4 billion project financing's investment in RIO Grande LNG, a joint venture with TotalEnergies.
  • Advised BAE Systems in its $5.55 billion acquisition of Ball Aerospace.

Lawyers

Hall of Fame
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Hall of fameKirkland & Ellis LLP
Paul leads Kirkland’s Global Environmental Practice, serving as head environmental counsel for a large number of private equity firms and public companies. Paul’s clients rely on him to identify and strategically manage environmental regulatory compliance and other environmental liabilities. He is a big-picture thinker and creative problem solver that clients count on to be both commercial and practical, and to create bespoke and efficient solutions for everything from environmental crises to more routine matters of compliance and governance and all aspects of transactions.
Leading lawyers
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Jonathan Kidwell is a partner in Kirkland’s Environmental Practice. He is recognized as a “Rising Star” by Law360 and recommended in The Legal 500 U.S. as “among the most commercial environmental attorneys in the market.” Jonathan’s clients rely on him to identify and manage complex environmental compliance and liability issues, primarily in the context of corporate mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, financing transactions, real estate investments and bankruptcies. Jonathan has particular experience in the oil and gas, waste management, manufacturing and chemical sectors and his work has included hundreds of successfully closed deals in a wide range of commercial transactions. Jonathan routinely identifies and assesses environmental risks and liabilities, coordinates due diligence, manages consultants and technical experts, drafts and negotiates contracts and agreements, coordinates lender issues, negotiates environmental insurance coverage, coordinates environmental regulatory approvals and pursues resolution of regulatory compliance and environmental liability issues. Jonathan also has substantial experience advising clients on environmental regulatory risks and trends, managing cleanups, permitting and navigating enforcement actions. Through the Practice, Jonathan maintains a worldwide network of environmental consulting and insurance and legal professionals to provide his clients with all necessary resources during or following their transactions.
Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
James “Jim” Dolphin is a partner in the Houston office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP working in the Environmental Transactions Practice Group. Jim manages environmental matters for private equity and industry clients involved in complex transactions concerning the acquisition and divestiture of large businesses and companies, and project development, including negotiating contractual language, counselling clients regarding regulatory compliance and exposure to environmental liabilities and advising on environmental insurance. Jim has significant experience advising clients on the environmental aspects of energy-focused transactions and projects, including energy transition projects involving carbon capture, utilization and sequestration, solar, energy storage, wind, geothermal, energy efficiency and environmental credits, attributes and offsets.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Paul Tanaka