Overview

Seth Traxler co-leads Kirkland’s top-ranked global Technology & IP Transactions practice. The practice group includes nearly 100 lawyers dedicated to structuring, negotiating and closing complex transactions relating to technology and IP.

In his practice, Seth serves as lead counsel in transactions where technology/IP assets or opportunities are core to the deal’s value proposition. He has over 25 years’ experience negotiating oftentimes transformative M&A deals, financings, joint ventures, collaborations, licenses and other strategic commercial agreements. Seth is a key advisor on M&A transactions for leading public companies and premier private equity sponsors. He has worked on more than 250 completed technology-intensive M&A deals, more than 125 completed carve-outs, and more than 50 joint ventures and collaborations. He is particularly experienced on more complex aspects of dealmaking, including: where business models and underwriting heavily intersects with technology and legal matters; business separations involving complicated entanglements; and advising sponsor clients on the full lifecycle of their investments.

Seth’s successful track record of advising companies on technology’s impact on their corporate strategies and business models has earned him recognition noting that his “tech-intensive M&A experience is virtually second to none” and that he is “a master craftsman of complex, international deals of all stripes” (IAM). He is recognized by numerous industry publications and legal directories, including Chambers USA, Billboard, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and The Legal 500 United States. His speaking engagements include Harvard Law School, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and ABS Vegas.

In addition, he has worked on multiple award-winning transactions, including:

  • an innovative financing arrangement for United Airlines, which was named IFLR’s Debt Capital Markets U.S. Deal of the Year in 2021;
  • Blackstone’s transformative partnership with Hipgnosis Song Management that was named IFLR’s Private Equity Deal of the Year in 2022; and
  • Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’ $30 billion joint venture with Intel that earned Kirkland “Standout Firm” in the technology category at The Financial Times’ North America Innovative Lawyers Awards 2023.

More

Recognition

Variety, “Music Legal Elite,” 2025

The Hollywood Reporter, “Top Music Lawyers” list, 2025

Billboard, “Top Music Lawyers” list, 2024 & 2025

Chambers USA, “Technology & Outsourcing,” 2017, 2018, 2023, 2024 & 2025

The Legal 500 United States

  • Media and Entertainment: Transactions 2022–2025
  • Patents: Licensing 2018–2025
  • Technology: Transactions 2017–2025

The Hollywood Reporter, “Power Lawyers” list, 2023 & 2024

Variety, “Legal Impact Report,” 2023 & 2024

IAM Patent 1000, “IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Professionals,” 2013–2025

Intellectual Property Stars, “Transactions Star” list, 2025

Credentials

Admissions & Qualifications

  • 1997Illinois

Courts

  • United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois1998

Languages

  • English
  • Spanish

Education

  • Northwestern Pritzker School of LawJ.D.cum laude1997
    Articles Editor, Northwestern Law Review
  • University of KansasB.A.cum laude1993
    Phi Beta Kappa

Civic and Pro Bono

Former Director of the Kirkland & Ellis Foundation

Former board member for Equip for Equality and the highly-acclaimed Writers’ Theatre

Kirkland Pro Bono Service Award for Outstanding Service (2007–2020) for work with many organizations, including A Sense of Home, an organization creating homes for youth aging out of foster care; the American Theatre Wing, the creator of the Tony Awards and a supporter of theater; and Ownership Works, a nonprofit partnering with companies and investors to give employees ownership opportunities to share in the value creation.

Angel investor in Broadway productions including Spamalot (original and revival), History Boys, You’re Welcome America by Will Ferrell, and Mean Girls