James Basile
heads Kirkland & Ellis LLP's San Francisco litigation practice. He is a seasoned trial lawyer with a diverse practice focusing on high-profile, complex litigation and its business and public relations implications for some of the nation's most prominent corporations. In the last twenty-four months, Jim has won two important antitrust cases: one on behalf of Facebook, defeating monopolization claims regarding its advertising policies, and another on behalf of the private equity purchasers of Del Monte Foods, defeating claims of collusive cartel bidding.
Jim has been counsel on some of the most important legal matters in California, including the Facebook IPO litigation, the bankruptcy case arising from the dissolution of the Brobeck, Phleger firm; labor class actions regarding financial advisors; and class actions involving JPMorgan Chase, Discover Financial and 24 Hour Fitness. He has special experience in securities matters. He acted as Morgan Stanley's National Coordinating Counsel for stock option litigation arising out of the tech bubble, and in 2007 he won a complete defense award in the largest retail securities claim ever brought against Morgan Stanley. He has wide experience in shareholder, merger and take-private litigation, as well as advising directors and officers on fiduciary duty issues.
Jim was named one of America's Leading Lawyers for Business by Chambers, USA and was also recognized in the 2012 edition of Legal 500 U.S. for M&A: Litigation. Jim was listed as a "Super Lawyer" in the 2013 edition of Super Lawyers magazine. He has acted as lead counsel for: Abbott Laboratories, American Financial Corp., B. Braun Medical, Inc., Clifford Chance Rogers & Wells, Coca Cola Enterprises, Chiquita Brands, Facebook, Fisher Investments, General Motors Corp., Golden Gate Partners, Honeywell International, Inc., Morgan Stanley, Qwest Communications, Siemens Corp., Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Thoma Bravo, 24 Hour Fitness, UBS Financial Services, United Airlines and Van Kampen. He has acted as trial counsel in both individual and class action suits involving securities, product liability, business contracts/fraud, antitrust, intellectual property/trade practices, SEC regulatory and backdating issues, defamation and labor. He tries both jury and bench trials and a wide array of arbitrations. Jim also has represented clients in regulatory and litigation matters involving the DOJ, EPA, FTC, SEC, NHTSA, and FINRA.
Jim is admitted to the District of Columbia, California and New York Bars and is a member of the Bars of the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 3rd, 5th, 6th, 9th and D.C. Circuits as well as the Supreme Court of the United States. He also serves as faculty for programs sponsored by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, plays a leading role in Kirkland & Ellis' nationally-praised litigation workshops, and is a member of the Firm's Finance Committee. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame (1986) and the Notre Dame Law School (1989) where he was Articles Editor of the Law Review.
