Key Takeaways
- • Holland & Knight added Kristie Shu as partner in its Century City office, expanding M&A and private equity capabilities in Southern California following her departure from Kirkland & Ellis.
- • Shu brings transactional experience across mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, carve-outs, joint ventures, and restructurings, with a client base including buyers, sellers, private equity funds, and portfolio companies.
- • Holland & Knight ranked as the second-most-active law firm for middle-market M&A and private equity during the first half of 2026, according to league table rankings.
- • The Shu hire is part of a broader expansion of the firm's transactional practices, following five other recent partner and associate additions across San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago, Washington D.C., and Miami.
- • Holland & Knight has received recent recognition as Private Equity Law Firm of the Year by Global M&A Network and M&A Law Firm of the Year by M&A Advisor, with regular appearances in Bloomberg, LSEG, Mergermarket, PitchBook, and The Deal rankings.
Summary
Holland & Knight has strengthened its West Coast M&A and private equity platform with the addition of partner Kristie Shu to its Century City office, effective August 27, 2026. Shu joins from Kirkland & Ellis, where she maintained partnership status. Her practice encompasses private equity transactions, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and legal services transactions, serving a diverse client base of strategic buyers, sellers, private equity funds, and portfolio companies.
Shu's transactional background spans leveraged buyouts, carve-outs, joint ventures, and complex strategic restructurings—skill sets particularly valuable as middle-market deal activity continues to shape the alternative investment landscape. Beyond her core M&A focus, Shu will serve as a member of Holland & Knight's Legal Services Transactions Team, which provides advisory services on management services organization structures, alternative business structures, and regulatory compliance matters affecting law firm operations.
The hire represents part of a broader geographic expansion of Holland & Knight's transactional capabilities. The firm has added five other transactional lawyers in recent months: partners David Jargiello (San Francisco), Jessica Berkowitz (Dallas), Michael Zhang (Chicago), and Courtney Miller (Washington, D.C.); associate Sam Schaffer (Miami); and corporate and M&A partner Jean Lee (Newport Beach). This multi-market strategy suggests the firm is investing heavily to capture deal flow across regional middle-market corridors.
Holland & Knight's competitive positioning appears strengthened by recent accolades. League table rankings placed the firm as the second-most-active law firm for middle-market M&A and private equity in the first half of 2026. The firm has also earned Private Equity Law Firm of the Year recognition from Global M&A Network and M&A Law Firm of the Year from M&A Advisor. Its transactional practice regularly appears in institutional rankings including Bloomberg, LSEG, Mergermarket, PitchBook, and The Deal—metrics that institutional investors and alternative asset managers typically reference when evaluating legal counsel capabilities.
Shu holds a J.D. from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and a B.A. from Claremont McKenna College.
Shu's transactional background spans leveraged buyouts, carve-outs, joint ventures, and complex strategic restructurings—skill sets particularly valuable as middle-market deal activity continues to shape the alternative investment landscape. Beyond her core M&A focus, Shu will serve as a member of Holland & Knight's Legal Services Transactions Team, which provides advisory services on management services organization structures, alternative business structures, and regulatory compliance matters affecting law firm operations.
The hire represents part of a broader geographic expansion of Holland & Knight's transactional capabilities. The firm has added five other transactional lawyers in recent months: partners David Jargiello (San Francisco), Jessica Berkowitz (Dallas), Michael Zhang (Chicago), and Courtney Miller (Washington, D.C.); associate Sam Schaffer (Miami); and corporate and M&A partner Jean Lee (Newport Beach). This multi-market strategy suggests the firm is investing heavily to capture deal flow across regional middle-market corridors.
Holland & Knight's competitive positioning appears strengthened by recent accolades. League table rankings placed the firm as the second-most-active law firm for middle-market M&A and private equity in the first half of 2026. The firm has also earned Private Equity Law Firm of the Year recognition from Global M&A Network and M&A Law Firm of the Year from M&A Advisor. Its transactional practice regularly appears in institutional rankings including Bloomberg, LSEG, Mergermarket, PitchBook, and The Deal—metrics that institutional investors and alternative asset managers typically reference when evaluating legal counsel capabilities.
Shu holds a J.D. from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and a B.A. from Claremont McKenna College.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.