High-profile trial lawyer Jim Hurst has returned to Kirkland & Ellis after a brief stint away from the firm this summer.
Best known for representing major pharmaceutical companies in large trials, Hurst unexpectedly stepped away from Kirkland at the end of May, Bloomberg Law reported in June. He spent roughly three months away from practicing law, during which sources at Kirkland remained hopeful he would return.
“I’m thrilled to be back,” Hurst said in a statement to Bloomberg Law. “I absolutely love what I do, which my time off cemented for me. I’m as energized as ever, and look forward to trying cases at Kirkland for the next decade, if not longer.”
Hurst declined to discuss what prompted his decision to step away from the firm.
He returned to the firm in mid-September, and he’s picked up where he left off. Earlier this month, he helped beat back a multi-state attorney generals’ attempt to block Novartis AG’s spinoff of its generic drugs unit Sandoz.
The Chicago-based partner joined Kirkland in 2014 and became a member of the firm’s top management committee. He joined from Windy City rival Winston & Strawn, where he led the 500-lawyer litigation department and was viewed as a candidate to become the firm’s chair.
He’s since racked up major wins for clients including Abbott Laboratories and AbbVie Inc., among others.
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