King & Spalding

King & Spalding represented Industrial Realty Group in its contribution of 98 industrial assets to Sachem Capital Corp. in a going-public transaction that will form IRG Realty Trust, Inc., a top-10 publicly listed industrial REIT with an implied enterprise value of approximately $3.4 billion. https://bit.ly/4nIw5vF The King & Spalding team was led by Zack Davis, Spencer Johnson, Jill Rubinger, Mark Hanley, Jessi Bartholomew, Milind Mishra, R. Davis Powell, Douglas J. Elsbeck, Meryl See, Ava Parisi, Catherine Hauck, Wayne Pressgrove, Michael Bennett, John Kleinjan, Nell Schiller, Sydney Jones Lampard, Wes Benter, Les Oakes, Laura Huffman, Jennifer Recine, Anne Dana, and Aishling S. Fitzpatrick.

Arwen Johnson has been named to the LA Times Studios 2026 Legal Visionaries List, which recognizes lawyers in Southern California who “exemplify a forward-thinking approach to the law, elevating both their profession and the people who depend on it.” Arwen is the managing partner of King & Spalding’s Los Angeles office and an active litigator. The publication’s profile described her as a “premier trial lawyer who recently secured a complete $11.8 million arbitration victory for Netflix in a publicized dispute involving the recovery of misused production funds.” Congratulations, Arwen! https://bit.ly/43hsHyn

King & Spalding served as lead trial counsel to Exxon Mobil Corporation (“Exxon”) and three of its former senior executives in a decade-long securities class action with alleged damages of approximately $3 billion. The lawsuit, filed in 2016, included allegations that Exxon misled investors about the profitability of its Kearl oil sands project in Canada and the value of certain dry gas assets in the Rocky Mountains. Since the beginning of the century, very few securities class actions have been tried to jury verdict, even fewer with billions at stake. https://bit.ly/4drMjEM On May 14, 2026, after an almost three-week trial, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas returned a complete defense verdict, clearing Exxon and these executives of all allegations. The King & Spalding team was led by Tom Melsheimer and included Emily Wilkinson, Austin Saathoff, and Taylor Hinojosa. 

We’re thrilled to welcome King & Spalding’s 2026 summer associates. From day one, they’ll take on meaningful work, collaborate across our global platform, and build the skills to launch their careers. There’s more opportunity here.

We had an amazing night celebrating the 30th anniversary of our Houston office and the relationships that have defined its success. We are grateful for our colleagues, clients, alumni and friends for their support over the years and look forward to celebrating future milestones with you.  

King & Spalding’s Sean Royall, Luke Fields, Zoe Beiner, Jacob Mathew, Ian Roberson, Jared Lax, Courtney Stone Mirski and Benjamin Lee receive a shout out from Law.com's Litigator of the Week for securing a complete defense victory on behalf of Fairfax County Public Schools in a whistleblower retaliation, defamation and First Amendment lawsuit. Congratulations to the team! https://shorturl.at/Oz1K7

King & Spalding advised Guggenheim Securities, LLC (Guggenheim) on CloudHQ’s $1.4 billion inaugural asset-backed securities (ABS) issuance and the establishment of a hyperscale/wholesale ABS master trust platform. The transaction represents the largest inaugural platform of its kind placed with capital markets investors and included $1.2 billion of senior notes and $200 million of subordinated notes across multiple tranches. It is the first data center securitization to achieve dual Big Three triple-A ratings, including the first-ever Fitch AAA rating in the sector, and was significantly oversubscribed across all tranches, reflecting strong investor demand. The offering also establishes a new benchmark for digital infrastructure financing and expands access to institutional capital for hyperscale data center development. https://shorturl.at/wkE5p The King & Spalding team advising Guggenheim included David Ridenour, Katesha Long, Joshua Diaz, Alison Elizabeth Pearman, Jennifer Fenge and Taylor Kern.

King & Spalding represents Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), one of the largest public school districts in the United States and the largest public school district in Virginia, in connection with a variety of matters stemming from public allegations made by FCPS school teacher Zenaida Perez, who in August 2025, through a social media collaborator, accused a school social worker and other personnel of facilitating and paying for abortions for minor students without parental knowledge or consent, and accused senior FCPS administrators of engaging in a related “cover up.” https://shorturl.at/jUAu4 King & Spalding promptly moved to dismiss plaintiff Perez’s claims, and on March 5, 2026, Judge Anthony Trenga of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia heard oral argument. Two months later, on May 8, 2026, Judge Trenga dismissed all five counts of Plaintiff’s Second Amended Complaint and ordered the case closed. In dismissing the case, the Court favorably referenced a publicly released investigation report, prepared by King & Spalding, which concluded that “Perez’s allegations were untrue and that she falsified evidence and refused to cooperate with the initial school investigation.” The team on this matter was led by partner Sean Royall, joined by partner Luke Fields, and included associates Zoe Beiner, Courtney Stone Mirski, Jared Lax, Jacob Mathew, Ian Roberson, and Benjamin Lee.

King & Spalding represented Hut 8 Corp. (Hut 8) on the structuring, drafting, and negotiation of a multi-billion dollar construction agreement with Jacobs Project Management Co for the first phase of its 1 GW Beacon Point AI data center campus in Nueces County, Texas. Beacon Point is the second AI data center campus commercialized under Hut 8's power-first, greenfield development model following its River Bend site. https://shorturl.at/HHvGP This work was performed in connection with Hut 8's recently announced commercialization of the first phase of the Beacon Point campus through a 15-year, $9.8 billion triple net lease for 352 MW of IT capacity with a confidential, high-investment-grade tenant deploying dedicated compute infrastructure to support AI training and inference workloads at hyperscale. The Beacon Point transaction brings Hut 8's total contracted AI data center capacity to 597 MW of IT capacity with aggregate base-term contract value of approximately $16.8 billion. The King & Spalding team advising Hut 8 included Scott Greer, Gregg Jacobson, Bob Neufeld, and Pedro Claussen Sagner. 

King & Spalding has won Latin Lawyer’s Disputes Deal of the Year for its role in one of Brazil’s largest commercial disputes, representing CA Investment (Brazil) S.A. in a $3 billion arbitration against J&F Investimentos S.A. and Eldorado Brasil Celulose S.A. The high-stakes clash centered on J&F’s alleged obstruction of CA’s multibillion-dollar bid to acquire Eldorado, one of the world’s largest pulp producers. In 2021, a unanimous ICC Tribunal issued an award ordering J&F and Eldorado to complete the sale and condemning their bad-faith conduct. The ruling remained intact after a high-profile annulment effort in Brazilian courts was rejected, culminating in a 231-page judgment upholding the award. https://shorturl.at/dg5zd The matter ultimately resolved in 2025 through a confidential settlement for CA Investment. The King & Spalding team was led by partner Henry G. "Harry" Burnett, FCIArb, FCollArb from Miami.