Kirkland & Ellis announced Wednesday that they have hired transactions partner Michael Marek from Vinson & Elkins.
Marek will join Kirkland as a partner in its corporate practice group.
Marek had been at V&E for more than 10 years, the last two as a partner, advising private equity firms, sponsors, portfolio companies, and various public and private businesses mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, leveraged buyouts and joint ventures. He specialized mainly in energy transactions, including energy services, infrastructure, upstream investments and energy transition.
“Mike is a talented attorney whose experience at the intersection of private equity and energy and infrastructure complements our industry-leading platform in these areas perfectly,” said Jon A. Ballis, Chairman of Kirkland’s executive committee. “We’re very excited to welcome him to Kirkland.”
Marek had been at Vinson & Elkins since his 2014 graduation from The University of Texas School of Law with both a JD and MBA. His undergraduate degree is from Stanford University in international relations.
In 2025 alone Marek had advised SCF Partners in their $250 million equity investment in Phoenix Service Partners, a natural gas compressor services firm; EnCap Investments in its line of equity in X2 Resources, a London-based E&P; Double Eagle IV in its $4.1 billion sale to Diamondback Energy and EnCap-backed Grayson Mill Energy in its $5.0 billion sale to Devon Energy.
“Kirkland has built an exceptional corporate team in Texas,” said Mr. Marek. “I look forward to working alongside my new colleagues to further grow the firm’s outstanding private equity and energy and infrastructure platform.”
Marek’s departure marks the 18th lateral move from Texas-headquartered V&E since January 2024, according to the Texas Lawbook’s lateral data.
Kirkland’s global energy and infrastructure practice, widely regarded as one of the leading practices in the world, includes more than 550 lawyers and, in particular, has led transactions in the highly competitive Texas market in volume and value over the last six years.