Kirkland & Ellis has announced that Christopher Peponis has joined the firm as a partner, bringing nearly two decades of energy industry experience across in-house and private practice roles. He joins alongside a group of eight lawyers focused on project development and finance transactions across the energy and infrastructure sectors.
Peponis brings a distinctive combination of legal, technical, and commercial expertise to the firm. He began his career at Shell, working across Australia, Canada, Europe, and the United States as a process engineer, commodity trader, and in-house counsel before transitioning to private practice. His chemical engineering background has been central to his focus on LNG liquefaction and regasification projects, including greenfield, brownfield, floating, and offshore developments. He has advised sponsors and developers across all phases of energy and infrastructure projects, with particular emphasis on energy transition, decarbonization, gas, and renewable energy.
Peponis has been consistently recognized by Chambers USA as a top lawyer in Projects: LNG and was named a Project Finance Rising Star by Law360 in 2023. He joins Kirkland from Latham & Watkins, where he was a partner. His arrival further builds out Kirkland’s integrated real assets platform, which the firm said is designed to support the increasing convergence of real estate and infrastructure strategies across the full investment and asset lifecycle.
Kirkland said the hire comes at a moment of sustained investment in energy and infrastructure, driven by evolving technologies and shifting regulatory frameworks globally.
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“Chris is a leading lawyer in the energy and infrastructure space, with deep experience advising on global LNG and other complex energy and infrastructure projects. He further strengthens our top-tier energy practice as evolving technologies, shifting regulatory frameworks and sustained investment in infrastructure continue to grow demand across the sector.”
Jon A. Ballis, Chairman, Kirkland & Ellis Executive Committee
“Kirkland’s market-leading energy and infrastructure platform, combined with its highly collaborative and integrated real assets team, was a natural fit for my project development practice. I’m excited to join a group that brings together broad technical and commercial insight to help clients execute increasingly complex, large-scale projects.”
Christopher Peponis, Partner, Kirkland & Ellis
