Kirkland & Ellis Hires Leading Debt Finance Attorney Fred Lim in San Francisco
Kirkland & Ellis LLP announced today that leading debt finance lawyer Fred Lim has joined the Firm as a partner in the Bay Area.
“Fred has deep experience structuring and negotiating complex financing transactions from the middle market to the bulge bracket, and he will be a great addition to our market-leading debt finance group,” said Jon A. Ballis, Chairman of Kirkland’s Executive Committee. “We continue to invest heavily in our platform and attract the market’s brightest talent, and Fred will be a tremendous asset to our clients in the Bay Area and across the Firm.”
Mr. Lim represents borrowers and lenders in connection with complex domestic and cross-border debt financing transactions, including tech financings, asset-based loans, junior capital and syndicated credit facilities. His work has spanned industries such as software, energy, financial services, healthcare, retail and industrial. Mr. Lim represents private equity sponsors, public and private companies, lending institutions, and alternative investment firms in structuring and negotiating financing transactions related to working capital lines, leveraged buyouts, take-private acquisitions, recapitalizations and restructurings. These transactions have ranged from several millions of dollars to billions of dollars.
“Fred is known as a go-to advisor for multifaceted leveraged finance transactions, in particular deals involving software and growth companies,” said David Nemecek, a partner in Kirkland’s debt finance group in California. “He is familiar with Kirkland’s dynamic culture given his previous time at the Firm and will fit in seamlessly with our in-demand debt finance team in the Bay Area.”
Mr. Lim joins Kirkland from the San Francisco office of Goodwin Procter LLP, where he was a partner. Prior to that, he was a partner in Kirkland’s San Francisco office.
Mr. Lim has been recognized as a leading lawyer by The Legal 500 U.S. and Chambers USA. He is a member of the California State Bar Association and the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area. He attended the University of Illinois College of Law and Michigan Technological University.
“Kirkland has the strongest and most dynamic private equity platform in the market with an incredible team-first culture,” said Mr. Lim. “I’m really excited about this next stage of my career and thrilled to rejoin the amazing team in San Francisco.”
Serving more than 450 private equity clients, Kirkland has a deep understanding of the national debt markets and has become a destination practice for private equity sponsors and their affiliates. According to Refinitiv, Kirkland’s more than 250 debt finance lawyers consistently handle more transactions for borrowers than any other law firm in the world and, for the last five years, have led the market in U.S. borrower transactions.
