Kirkland & Ellis Welcomes Leading Commercial Litigator Alex Kaplan

Kirkland & Ellis announced today that leading commercial trial lawyer Alex Kaplan will join the Firm as a partner in its Litigation Practice Group.

“Alex is an exceptional trial lawyer with a remarkable record of success across a wide range of complex commercial disputes,” said Jon A. Ballis, Chairman of Kirkland’s Executive Committee. “We’re excited to welcome a lawyer of his caliber as our litigation platform continues to experience significant growth and momentum.”

Mr. Kaplan represents clients in energy, antitrust, financial services, technology, intellectual property and M&A-related disputes. He has an impressive record of success on both sides of high-stakes litigation, recovering more than $1.5 billion in settlements or judgments for plaintiff-side clients and defeating exposures for multiples of that figure for defense-side clients.

“Alex is widely respected for his courtroom skills, strategic advocacy, leadership and strong commercial sense,” said Andrew Kassof, a member of Kirkland’s Executive Committee. “He is among the top litigators in Texas, and he’ll enhance our capabilities both in the state where we’ve continued to add extraordinary talent and across our national platform. Alex will also fit in seamlessly with his use of creative fee structures as we continue to grow our industry-leading approach to alternative fees in litigation.”

Mr. Kaplan has been recognized as a leading litigator by numerous publications, including Chambers USA, Lawdragon, Benchmark Litigation, The Legal 500 U.S. and The Best Lawyers in America. He joins Kirkland after more than 20 years at Susman Godfrey where he made partner after just four years and served in numerous leadership roles, including as the youngest partner elected to the firm's executive committee.

“I have worked on cases with and against Kirkland since I started practicing law and have always admired the strength of the firm’s litigation practice. Kirkland continues to build its preeminent litigation platform and the Firm’s trajectory in the market is compelling,” said Mr. Kaplan. “I’m excited to continue serving clients in their most important matters and help win complex cases with such a talented and collaborative team.”

Mr. Kaplan is the latest in a series of prominent additions to Kirkland’s growing litigation practice, including in Texas with the recent additions of Andrew LeGrand and Prerak Shah.