Jon Ballis

focuses his practice on leveraged buyouts of private and public companies, strategic mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures, and growth equity and PIPE investments. He has been recognized as a leading private equity attorney by Chambers USA every year since 2004, and is one of only five Illinois attorneys to be ranked Tier 1 for private equity. Jon has handled matters on behalf of Bain Capital, Blackstone, Centerbridge, Citadel, KKR, Madison Dearborn, The Pritzker Group and Thomas H. Lee.

Jon has been recognized as a leading private equity attorney by major legal publications. In 2013, Jon was selected as one of the top 10 private equity practitioners in the country by the Private Equity Manager, which described him as "one of the young stars of the Kirkland & Ellis buyout practice." He has been included in every edition of Chambers USA since 2004, and is one of only four Illinois attorneys to be ranked Tier 1 for private equity. Chambers describes him as a "go-to guy in the marketplace" with "stellar legal judgment" and the ability "to take a big-picture, strategic perspective on transactions." He has also been listed in The Best Lawyers in America every year since 2006 for both Leveraged Buyouts & Private Equity, and Mergers & Acquisitions. Additionally, he has appeared as an "Illinois Super Lawyer" in Super Lawyers magazine every year since 2005 and has been recognized by The Legal 500 U.S. for Private Equity Buyouts from 2012-2014.

Jon is also actively involved in charitable organizations and a frequent speaker. He is a Founder and Director of The Vision for Tomorrow Foundation. He has acted as a guest lecturer at Harvard Law School, Northwestern University Law School and the University of Chicago Law School and has spoken on behalf of the Practising Law Institute on mergers and acquisitions.