Kirkland & Ellis LLP is pleased to announce that Neil McDonald will join the Firm as a partner in the Hong Kong office. Mr. McDonald will join Kirkland’s Restructuring Practice Group, which includes more than 100 lawyers around the world.
“Neil is a preeminent restructuring lawyer in Asia, widely recognized for his expertise in a variety of financial distress matters,” said Jeffrey C. Hammes, Chairman of Kirkland’s Global Management Executive Committee. “We are excited that this extraordinary lawyer will be joining our top-tier, global restructuring practice and our Hong Kong office.”
Mr. McDonald is a distinguished restructuring attorney with a long track record of success in Asia. He acts for financial institutions, insolvency appointment holders, turnaround management firms, hedge funds and private equity firms. Mr. McDonald advises clients on all aspects of financial distress including consensual workouts, shareholder disputes, liquidations, receiverships and other enforcement options including litigation. He also advises clients on the proprietary acquisitions of distressed businesses and assets. Mr. McDonald previously was the head of the Business Restructuring and Insolvency practice in the Hong Kong office of Hogan Lovells.
Mr. McDonald’s recent work includes: advising the Steering Committee of bondholders in relation to defaults of US$1.8 billion of bonds issued by Sino-Forest Corporation; advising the liquidators of Titan Group Investment Limited in relation to the sale of assets for value in excess of US$300 million; advising the bondholder group in relation to China Forestry Holdings Co Ltd.; and advising a number of financial institutions in relation to the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
“Neil is an ideal fit for Kirkland as we continue to build out our capabilities and platform in Asia,” said Nicholas Norris, partner in Kirkland’s Corporate Practice Group in the Hong Kong office. “He is widely recognized as one of the top restructuring lawyers in the Asia-Pacific region and will bring to the Firm a skill set, experience and contacts that complements perfectly our successful M&A, private equity and finance practice in the region.”
Mr. McDonald has been recognized as a leading individual by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, Chambers Asia-Pacific, PLC and IFLR1000. According to Chambers Asia-Pacific, clients have called him “excellent — strategic and technically strong, with lots of experience in challenging situations,” and IFLR1000 called him the “market leader” in Hong Kong restructuring and insolvency.
“Neil’s joining continues the worldwide expansion of Kirkland’s Restructuring Practice Group,” said James H.M. Sprayregen, a restructuring partner and member of the Firm’s Global Management Executive Committee. “With top-caliber lawyers in the United States, Europe and now Asia, Kirkland is better equipped than ever to advise clients on complex, global restructuring matters.”
Mr. McDonald holds an LL.B. from the University of Western Australia.
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