Overview

Sophia Hudson is a capital markets partner in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Sophia advises clients on SEC disclosure and compliance, governance and general corporate law matters, as well as the full range of capital markets transactions, including initial public offerings and follow-on equity offerings, public and private high-yield, investment-grade and convertible debt offerings and private placements of equity and convertible securities. She has extensive experience with foreign issuers and cross-border transactions.

Her experience ranges across a variety of industries, including consumer goods, financials, industrials, life sciences, mining, retail, specialty pharmaceuticals and technology. She has also represented all the major U.S. investment banks.

Representative Clients

Capital Markets

  • AbbVie, Affimed, Apax Partners, Associated Materials, Awilhelmsen, Bain Capital, Bausch Health, Bristol Myers Squibb, Carlisle, Fox, Huntsman, InflaRx, KPS Capital Partners, loanDepot, Norwegian Cruise Line, Patient Square Capital, Pharvaris, Pike, Rocket Software, SVB Leerink, Tupperware Brands, United Airlines, viagogo and Warburg Pincus

SEC Compliance, Disclosure and Governance

  • AbbVie, Affimed, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Ferguson, Fox, InflaRx, Norwegian Cruise Line and Pharvaris

Mergers & Acquisitions

  • Abbvie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Colfax, Delphi Technologies, KPS Capital Partners, Pike and TPG Real Estate Finance Trust

Restructurings

  • Intelsat and J.C. Penney

More

Thought Leadership

Speaking Engagements

Conference Co- Chair and Panelist, “How to Prepare an Initial Public Offering,” Practising Law Institute, New York, April 26, 2022 

Speaker, “Handling Director Conflicts & Structuring Frictionless Board Meetings,” CCR Corp Women’s 100 “Facilitating Board Oversight” session, March 4, 2022

Panelist, “Equity Derivatives: A Walk Through for Public Companies,” Kirkland Webinar, September 30, 2021

Speaker, “Capital Markets 2021,” The Corporate Counsel Webcast, May 12, 2021

Speaker, “Navigating Corp Fin Comments,” CCR Corp Women’s 100 “Inside the SEC: How Things Work” session, May 7, 2021

Moderator, “Power: Global Wealth and Governance,” The Fourth Floor Launch Summit: Community: An Access Point to Money & Power, January 26, 2021

Recognition

Recognized as “commercial and hard-working, and has good judgment” for Debt & Equity by Chambers USA, 2022–2023 and Chambers Global, 2023

Recognized as a “Highly Regarded” practitioner for Capital Markets: Equity by IFLR1000, 2022

Named a “Northeast Trailblazer” by The American Lawyer, 2021

Recognized as a “Notable Practitioner” for Capital Markets: Equity by IFLR1000, 2021

Named a “Leading Lawyer” for Debt Offerings, 2021–2023; named a “Next Generation Partner” for Debt Offerings, 2020, and Equity Offerings, 2020–2023; recognized for Capital Markets: High-Yield Debt Offerings, 2019–2023, by The Legal 500 U.S.

Recognized as a “Finance, Banking & Capital Markets Trailblazer” by The National Law Journal, 2019

Named a “Rising Star” by New York Law Journal, 2017

Named a “Rising Star” for Life Sciences by Law360, 2016

Memberships & Affiliations

Member, Audit Committee of the Partnership of New York City

Partnership for New York City, David Rockefeller Fellow, 2016–2017

Co-Chair, Practising Law Institute’s “How to Prepare an Initial Public Offering,” 2015–2021

Credentials

Admissions & Qualifications

  • New York

Education

  • University of Michigan Law SchoolJ.D.magna cum laude2006

    Order of the Coif

    Associate Editor, Michigan Law Review

  • Princeton UniversityA.B., History2000