Monica J. Shilling

Monica Shilling is a transactional partner in the Los Angeles office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. She has a broad corporate and securities law practice that focuses on advising asset managers, private equity funds, and their portfolio companies on the full lifecycle of transactions. She also represents public companies, financial advisors, investment banks and issuers. She is experienced with mergers and acquisitions, capital markets offerings, leveraged buyouts, general corporate law and corporate governance, securities laws, and NYSE/Nasdaq compliance.

Monica’s practice also has a particular focus involving specialty finance enterprises. She advises companies on the establishment of business development companies (BDCs) and other private and public equity vehicles. Monica is among a relatively limited number of attorneys in the country who actively represent BDCs. She also advises clients on special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) transactions, including IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, and business combinations.

Monica has been consistently recognized in Chambers USA and The Legal 500 since 2010. In the 2021 edition of Chambers USA, clients commented that "She is my go-to lawyer for strategic advice and I really rely on her opinion." "She is very responsive, very practical and very thorough." According to The Legal 500 United States, one client stated that Monica is “one of the three or four best transactional lawyers with whom I have ever worked. Shilling has the total skill set: she has extremely high levels of intellectual capacity, legal knowledge, common sense, people skills and M&A transactional experience.”

The Los Angeles Business Journal awarded Monica “Corporate Attorney of the Year” as part of their annual “Leaders in Law” series in 2021 and as one of the “Top Women Attorneys in Los Angeles” since 2020. In 2020, the Daily Journal recognized Monica as one of the “Top Women Lawyers” in California.

Monica is a frequent speaker at industry events including LACBA’s Annual Securities Regulation Seminar, the Women’s Private Equity Summit and the Harvard Association for Law and Business Women’s Leadership Series.