Three Kirkland Partners Among Daily Journal’s Top Real Estate and Development Lawyers

The Daily Journal named Kirkland partners Kevin Ehrhart, Austin Norris and Cody Sonntag to its 2026 “Top Real Estate and Development Lawyers” list, which honors leading California attorneys contributing to the state’s commercial development.

Kevin was recognized for a variety of work related to data centers, including leading Related Digital’s lease supporting the development of a $16 billion hyperscale data center in Michigan and Blackstone-backed AirTrunk’s agreement with global AI company HUMAIN to form a strategic partnership to build data centers in Saudi Arabia.

Austin was recognized for representing Williams Homes in litigation relating to emissions from the Chiquita Canyon landfill in Castaic, California, which disrupted and damaged the Williams Ranch master-planned community, as well as for being a co-founding partner of Kirkland’s real estate litigation department.

Cody was recognized for advising “private equity-backed data center developers and operators in powered land acquisitions and data center developments in California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, Wyoming, Alabama, Oklahoma and elsewhere,” as well as for representing “power and infrastructure developers and land holders on the other side of those deals.”