According to The Lawyer, Mr McKimm - still listed on the Kirkland website - is to be offered a special deal to give him extra points to count towards the amount he will receive from the Freshfields partnership. It appears that he could be given some £2.6m - about £1m more than the maximum £1.63m given to UK equity partners. 

Three funds partners

Kirkland is one of the most competitive partnerships as regarding paying its partners and lateral hires. Nevertheless, it lost three funds partners only a week ago in a breakaway, led by Mark Mifsud, to Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson. An M&A partner, James Howe, has just left for Proskauer Rose. In late April, disputes partner Ulrich Payne left for Ogier in the Cayman Islands. 

List of recommendations

Mr McKimm's clients include CVC Partners (also a Freshfields client), UBS and BNP Paribas. His Kirkland biography gives a list of awards and recommendations and says: 'He has represented issuers, sponsors and underwriters in a wide variety of international securities transactions, with a particular focus on offerings of high-yield and other complex debt securities. Sources: The Lawyer, Kirkland & Ellis and Legal Business