Gene Assaf is a retired senior litigation partner in the New York and Washington, D.C., offices. Gene represented corporate clients on a variety of commercial litigation, environmental and technology disputes before judges, juries and arbitration panels across the country. Over the course of his career, he had taken to verdict—as both plaintiff and defendant—some of the largest trials involving allegations of corporate wrongdoing: represented plaintiff Huntsman in its successful fraud trial against Albermarle, represented plaintiff BASF in its successful trial against Lyondell and represented defendant Honeywell in its complete defense verdict in a case brought by Breed Technologies.
Chambers USA described Gene as a “fantastic trial lawyer who is creative, aggressive, and able to cut through the complexities to get to a level of solving the problem.” Gene’s work was discussed in numerous publications and media accounts, including “How Litigators from Kirkland Bet On Themselves and Client Huntsman to Land $665 million Arbitration Award on Contingency”, “Top Guns, Litigation Department of the Year”, “Who Represents Corporate America” and “Winning”.
Gene also advised boards and management on risk and compliance issues. Gene was proud to have represented some of the world’s largest public companies, including Apple, BASF, Huntsman, AOL, Honeywell, BHP, Textron, Wyndham, Raytheon and Siemens. Over the course of nearly 30 years, Gene served in a broad range of management roles at the Firm, including on Kirkland’s Global Executive Management Committee (2010–19), as well as on the Firm’s Finance, Administrative, Inclusion, Compensation and Pro Bono Committees. Gene also served on a variety of professional and pro bono boards.
