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Kirkland & Ellis announced today that top real estate attorney Michelle Kelban has joined the Firm as a partner.

“Michelle is widely recognized as one of the preeminent lawyers in the real estate sector, representing leading private equity sponsors in the full range of transactions involving real assets,” said Jon A. Ballis, Chairman of Kirkland’s Executive Committee. “We’re very excited to welcome her to Kirkland as we continue to grow in strategically important practice areas like real assets.”

Ms. Kelban advises clients on a wide array of sophisticated real estate transactions, including private capital raising, financing, acquisitions, joint venture recapitalizations, and restructurings and workouts. She represents a diverse range of market participants, such as private equity firms, institutional lenders, U.S. and international investors, and family offices.

“I am thrilled to join Kirkland and its outstanding real assets team,” said Ms. Kelban. “The firm has an incredibly diverse platform for the type of transactions I handle and the clients with whom I work. I look forward to contributing my experience and working collaboratively with the team to help further grow and strengthen the real assets capabilities at Kirkland.”

Ms. Kelban has been recognized by publications such as Chambers USA, where clients commended her “great business judgment,” and The Legal 500 U.S. She was named one of the most influential women in New York commercial real estate by Bisnow this year. And last year, Law360 named her as one of their Real Estate MVPs. Ms. Kelban joins from Latham & Watkins LLP, where she was a partner.

Kirkland’s Real Estate Practice Group is made up of experienced, multidisciplinary lawyers who apply their highlevel real estate knowledge to a wide range of complex business transactions. The practice regularly represents the industry’s most active and sophisticated private equity sponsors, as well as publicly traded REITs, sovereign wealth funds, major pension organizations and other institutional investors in connection with their real estate and real estate-related activities from fundraising and structuring through deployment of capital and final disposition, mergers and take-private transactions and recapitalizing such investment entities to the extent necessary.