Kirkland & Ellis named Fern Han partner in the debt finance practice group, focusing on project, energy and infrastructure finance.
Han will continue to be based in Houston, and she had been a partner at Simpson Thacher since May 2025. Prior to that, Han was at White & Case for more than 16 years, first in London before moving to Houston in December 2018.
Han advises borrowers, sponsors, lenders on complex, high-profile domestic and international banking and credit matters. Her client portfolio has included construction, back leverage, mezzanine and tax equity financings for such major infrastructure developers as EnCap Investments, Saudi Aramco, Arroyo Investors and Société Générale, a lender for the consortium developing offshore infrastructure for the deepwater Shenandoah Project in the Gulf of Mexico.
Melissa Hutson, a member of firm’s executive committee and a partner in the debt finance practice, said Han’s experience and commercial insight make her an ideal fit for the team. “Fern will provide immediate value to our clients pursuing innovative financing solutions for large-scale projects, particularly in rapidly growing areas like digital infrastructure,” Hutson said in a news release.
Jon A. Ballis, chairman of Kirkland’s executive committee, said Han is “a highly regarded and accomplished lawyer with deep experience advising on some of the most complex financing arrangements across the energy and infrastructure sectors.”
Han attended Raffles College in Singapore and holds a law degree from BPP Law School in the U.K., and an LLB from the London School of Economics and Political Science.