Kirkland & Ellis LLP is pleased to announce that Aaron Schlaphoff has joined the Firm’s New York office as a partner in the Private Funds Group. Mr. Schlaphoff was most recently an attorney fellow in the Division of Investment Management at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“Aaron is a talented lawyer with a strong reputation,” said Jeffrey C. Hammes, Chairman of Kirkland’s Global Management Executive Committee. “He will be a great asset to our clients as the regulatory landscape for investment firms continues to evolve and become increasingly complex.”

Mr. Schlaphoff has broad public and private sector experience related to the investment management industry. At the SEC, he contributed to a wide range of matters involving the regulation of investment advisers and pooled investment vehicles, including private funds, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. He was a key member of the team that developed the SEC’s recently proposed rule relating to the use of derivatives and financial commitment transactions by registered investment companies and business development companies. He also advised other SEC divisions and offices on policy and legal matters pertaining to private equity fund and hedge fund advisers, including potential enforcement actions. In addition, Mr. Schlaphoff worked extensively with representatives of the Financial Stability Oversight Council and Financial Stability Board on issues related to potential risks of asset management activities on U.S. and global financial stability.

Prior to joining the SEC in 2014, Mr. Schlaphoff was counsel in the New York office of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. There, he advised clients regarding legal, regulatory and compliance matters under the Investment Advisers Act, Investment Company Act, Commodity Exchange Act and related securities, derivatives and banking laws and regulations. Mr. Schlaphoff started his career at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP before joining Davis Polk in 2006.

“I had the privilege to work with Aaron at the SEC, and I’m thrilled that he has joined our growing Private Funds Group here at Kirkland,” said Norm Champ, the former director of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management who joined Kirkland’s New York office in February of this year. “He has a great skill set and the intellect and energy that are hallmarks of Kirkland’s team. He will be a real asset to clients as our practice continues to grow.”

Mr. Schlaphoff holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was managing editor of the Yale Law Journal on Regulation and editor of the Yale Journal of International Law. He earned a B.A. from Macalester College, and was a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Cologne, Germany.

Kirkland is a global leader in providing sophisticated advice to private investment fund sponsors and select institutional investors with respect to all major alternative investment strategies. Operating as an integrated, multidisciplinary global team across offices in the United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific, Kirkland’s 100+ dedicated fund attorneys represent a diverse group of private investment fund sponsors ranging from some of the world’s largest multi-strategy alternative asset managers and financial institutions to independent boutiques and sponsors raising first-time funds. In the past three years alone, Kirkland has advised 275 private investment fund sponsors, raising more than 350 funds and representing more than $290 billion of capital commitments.

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