Michael Woronoff

When Michael Woronoff and a team of 25 lawyers and five support staff migrated to Kirkland & Ellis from Proskauer Rose last year, he was hopeful their clients would see the value in sticking together.

"Our practice has benefited from long and deep relationships with our clients, some of which go back over 30 years," Woronoff said. "Kirkland is an exciting place to be right now, with first-rate lawyers and practices, cutting-edge knowledge management, and a laser-like focus on client service."

Woronoff, now a partner in Kirkland's Los Angeles office, said clients have so far offered positive feedback.

"The nature of the practice hasn't changed, but I have focused a substantial portion of my time and efforts over the past year on integration, which has gone extremely well," Woronoff said. "Of course, the pandemic changed the way we work dramatically, but it's anyone's guess as to how much of that change is long term."

Woronoff's team works in practice areas including private equity, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, debt finance, tax, restructuring, and investment funds.

One of his most significant post-move matters was representing Smart & Final Stores in its $1.12 billion acquisition by private equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC. When the transaction closed in June of last year, Smart & Final became a private company and its shares ceased trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Apollo had previously owned Smart & Final, before private equity firm Ares Management acquired a majority stake in 2012 for $975 million. Woronoff and his colleagues had represented both Ares and Smart & Final when they were with Proskauer, including in Smart & Final's 2014 IPO.

"Naturally, we were pleased when Smart & Final decided to use us when it was acquired by Apollo," he said. "I thought the team -- which included both people that came over in the move and long-time K&E attorneys -- did a fantastic job."

Woronoff is a frequent lecturer on corporate and securities law topics and is a long-time adjunct professor for the UCLA School of Law. He teaches a course called "Venture Capital and the Startup Company."

-- Jennifer McEntee