Rising Trial Star Kuan Huang Returns to Kirkland
Kirkland & Ellis announced today that trial lawyer Kuan Huang has rejoined the Firm as a litigation partner. Mr. Huang has an extraordinary track record at trial, having won 18 complete defense verdicts and more than $1.8 billion in damages in plaintiff-side verdicts since 2017 alone.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Kuan back to Kirkland,” said Jon A. Ballis, Chairman of Kirkland’s Executive Committee. “He’s a fantastic, up-and-coming trial lawyer and his return is a real testament to the strength of our litigation team and the opportunities available on our platform.”
Over the course of his career, Mr. Huang has first- or second-chaired nearly 30 separate cases tried to verdict; conducted over 100 witness examinations, including more than 25 expert cross-examinations; and delivered nearly two dozen opening statements or closing arguments — all while maintaining an overall trial win rate of over 90%.
He has a wide-ranging litigation and arbitration practice and has experience in disputes relating to all manner of commercial contracts, fraud, banking and financial services, trade secrets and copyright, liability management and bankruptcy, employment, and securities. Mr. Huang was an associate at Kirkland from 2011-2017 and was most recently a partner at Latham & Watkins.
“I started my career at Kirkland and so this move is a homecoming of sorts,” said Mr. Huang. “The excitement about the Firm’s litigation business is palpable, and that shows in its recent growth and investments. It was that energy about litigation at the Firm that made it clear the time was right to come back and join the team.”
Business Insider recognized Mr. Huang as one of 15 trial lawyers featured as “Rising Stars of the Courtroom” in 2022, and Law360 named him a 2021 Rising Star Trial Lawyer, noting he “helped win more than $1 billion” for a client in “one of the largest contract damages awards ever awarded by a New York court, while putting to rest a decade-old behemoth of a securities dispute.” He has also been recognized for his work in The American Lawyer’s Litigation Daily and the Profiles in Diversity Journal, which called him an “Asian Leader Worth Watching” in 2022.
Mr. Huang’s move to Kirkland is the latest in a string of prominent additions for the Firm’s litigation department. In total, Kirkland has added over 140 lateral hires and an additional 100 new associates to the litigation practice this year and continues to achieve noteworthy successes across industries and types of litigation.
“Kuan is an exceptionally talented trial lawyer and we couldn’t be happier to have him back as we continue to scale the litigation practice with market-leading talent and build for both the present and the future,” said Andrew Kassof, a member of Kirkland’s Executive Committee.
