Susan Burkhardt is a partner in the Investment Funds Group in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Susan advises on the formation and operation of various types of private investment funds, accounts and structures across strategies, with a primary focus on credit funds.
Susan has worked with a variety of private fund sponsors and, in particular, has extensive experience advising managers of credit platforms on a wide range of issues, including the formation of closed-end and open-end funds investing in various private credit strategies, including direct lending, asset-based credit, special situations, opportunistic and distressed, as well as mezzanine and real estate debt funds.
Her experience also includes advising on operational, legal and regulatory issues at both the fund and sponsor level, including for publicly traded global asset managers and prominent middle-market sponsors, with fund sizes ranging from $100 million to over $5 billion. In addition, Susan has represented institutional investors in making investments in private funds.
Susan has advised on the legal and commercial aspects of new fund product launches, including “funds of one,” separately managed accounts, flagship and overflow accounts, and customized and strategic multi-strategy arrangements, including developing of terms, addressing marketability considerations, managing structuring issues, product documentation and negotiations with leading institutional investors across the globe.
Select Representative Clients
- Atalaya Capital Partners*, BGO*, Blackstone Credit & Insurance*, Blue Owl, Castlelake, Crescent Capital Group, Eldridge, Oaktree, Prospect Ridge* and TCW*
*Prior to joining Kirkland
