Mr. Hackney is a partner with Kirkland & Ellis and a trial lawyer with extensive experience in bankruptcy litigation. Mr. Hackney served as lead litigation counsel in a number of high-profile bankruptcies, including iHeart Radio, Edison Mission Energy, GenOn, Patriot Coal and BCBG. Mr. Hackney rose to prominence during the City of Detroit’s bankruptcy case as lead trial counsel for Syncora Holdings, a bond insurer who vigorously contested the City’s plan of adjustment. His exploits were detailed in the book Detroit Resurrected by Detroit Free Press journalist Nathan Bomey and in multiple documentaries on the subject.
Mr. Hackney also has an active non-bankruptcy practice. In 2003, Mr. Hackney co-led Conseco’s trial effort to regain control of the General Motors Building from Donald Trump. After winning an arbitration that allowed it to buy out Trump’s equity interest, Conseco removed Trump’s name from the side of the building. The garish golden “T” now sits in Mr. Hackney’s office. The building was subsequently sold for $1.4 billion — at the time, the largest sale of commercial real estate in history, but only after the sale process itself became embroiled in litigation in Delaware with real estate billionaire Sheldon Solow, which Mr. Hackney and his partners succeeded in beating back.
Mr. Hackney resides in Evanston, Illinois with his wife Allison and their three daughters. He is the Chairman of the Board of LINK Unlimited, a Chicago area non-profit focused on college graduation rates among African-American youth, and a commissioner of the Illinois Medical District. Mr. Hackney graduated from Rice University in 1994 and got his law degree from the University of Chicago in 1997.
