Akin Strengthens Integrated Private Equity Platform with Return of Kimberly Rowe in Los Angeles

Akin Gump announced on September 8, 2026, the return of Kimberly Rowe as a corporate partner in its Los Angeles office, continuing a deliberate expansion of its global private equity platform. Rowe's appointment marks the ninth private equity partner addition to the firm over the past year, reflecting management's confidence in market demand for specialized sponsor-side M&A counsel. Her return follows earlier 2026 hires including Gerald Brant as U.S. head of private equity, Jeffrey Kochian, and teams of partners across New York, London, and Dallas.

Rowe's background positions her as a specialist in sophisticated transactions at the intersection of control private equity, complex M&A, and capital solutions. Her recent role as Lead Counsel for Corporate Transactions at The Walt Disney Company provided in-house experience negotiating strategic transactions with peer companies, advising on leveraged buyouts, take-private transactions, public and private M&A, carve-outs, co-investments, and private investments in public equity across multiple industries. This combination of external deal practice and in-house sponsor perspective addresses a specific market need among private equity clients navigating complex acquisition structures.

Akin co-chair Abid Qureshi framed the hire as part of a broader strategic response to evolving private capital markets, emphasizing that the nine partner additions over twelve months underscore "momentum behind that strategy." Gerald Brant, head of Akin's U.S. private equity practice, noted that Rowe "combines sophisticated transaction experience with a deep understanding of our clients and their objectives," while Rowe herself cited Akin's "formative" role in her career and the firm's "premier platform for advising private equity clients."

The firm's private equity practice operates with integrated capabilities spanning capital solutions, restructuring, tax, and fund formation, advising leading global alternative asset managers and financial sponsors on complex transactions throughout the full lifecycle of private capital deployment. Akin maintains 300+ transactional lawyers across major financial centers on three continents, positioning the expanded practice to serve institutional clients including private equity, private credit, infrastructure, sovereign wealth, and investment funds alongside public and private companies, boards, and family offices.