Kirkland Hires Leading Litigation Attorney Sandra Goldstein in New York
Kirkland & Ellis LLP announced today that leading litigation attorney Sandra Goldstein has joined the New York office as a partner in the Litigation Practice Group. Ms. Goldstein joins the Firm from Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, where she was a partner in the litigation department and the firm’s former head of litigation. Stefan Atkinson also has joined Kirkland from Cravath, as an equity partner in litigation.
“Sandra is one of the country’s foremost litigation lawyers, having led numerous high-profile and complex cases spanning M&A, securities and commercial disputes,” said Jeffrey C. Hammes, Chairman of Kirkland’s Global Management Executive Committee. “Sandra is an invaluable addition to our leading litigation practice and will be an enormous benefit to our litigation and transactional work in New York and across the firm.”
Ms. Goldstein has a broad litigation practice, with a particular focus on mergers and acquisitions, securities and commercial disputes. Her clients have included Barnes & Noble, Cameron International, CBS, IBM, J. Crew, Martin Marietta, Novartis, Qualcomm, Starwood Hotels, The Williams Companies, United Airlines, Xerox and Zale.
Over the past five years, Ms. Goldstein has represented clients in litigation across the country relating to more than 30 contemplated or hostile transactions with a cumulative value of over $400 billion. During this time, she secured more than 20 pretrial wins, including a major summary judgment victory in a multibillion dollar securities fraud class action lawsuit. Ms. Goldstein frequently argues as lead courtroom counsel, winning more than a dozen favorable decisions after oral argument in the past five years at both the trial and appellate court levels concerning dispositive motions, motions for preliminary injunctions and expedited discovery.
Ms. Goldstein has been recognized by numerous publications, including Chambers USA, Crain’s New York Business, Law360, Benchmark Litigation, The Legal 500 and The National Law Journal, among others. She received a B.A. summa cum laude from Barnard College and a J.D. from New York University School of Law. She is a member of the board of trustees of New York University School of Law.
“Kirkland has a great global platform, and has demonstrated its excellence in courtrooms around the country and the world,” said Ms. Goldstein. “The continued growth of the firm’s transactional practice and volume of high-profile deals provides an excellent opportunity for partnering with elite corporate litigators. I hope to enhance the Firm’s excellence in the New York market and to advance its capabilities to handle cutting-edge litigation matters related to transactions, governance and other significant issues facing corporations and their boards of directors.”
Kirkland also welcomes Stefan Atkinson as a litigation partner in New York. Mr. Atkinson has worked on a broad range of complex litigation matters including shareholder disputes, M&A litigation and antitrust claims. His clients have included Xerox, Barnes & Noble, The Williams Companies and Qualcomm, among numerous others. Mr. Atkinson received a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and an A.B. from Harvard University. He clerked in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Kirkland has approximately 700 lawyers focused on litigation around the world. Kirkland litigators have a long and proven track record of generating successful results for clients in their most high-stakes cases, with publications like Chambers USA noting that: “Kirkland consistently fields litigation teams that are unrivaled anywhere in the world with its creativity, strategic focus and the depth of its bench.” Visit Kirkland’s website to learn more.
About Kirkland & Ellis
Kirkland & Ellis LLP (www.kirkland.com) is a law firm with 2,200 attorneys representing global clients in litigation/dispute resolution and arbitration, M&A/private equity and other complex corporate transactions, restructuring and intellectual property matters. The Firm has 13 offices around the world: New York, Beijing, Boston, Chicago, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Munich, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Shanghai and Washington, D.C.
