Jennifer Cornejo

Jennifer Cornejo is a partner in the Global Environmental Practice Group in the Houston office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Jennifer's practice focuses on complex environmental transactional matters, regulatory counseling, remedial issues, enforcement defense, and navigating the energy transition. She routinely counsels private equity clients, financial institutions, and public and private companies on environmental liabilities across an array of industries, including all segments of the oil and gas sector, renewable power and fuels, waste management, recycling and disposal, manufacturing, and the mining and chemical sectors. Jennifer has extensive experience advising clients on the resolution of environmental liabilities identified in the course of transactions, primarily in the context of corporate mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, bankruptcies, financing transactions, and real estate investments, having successfully negotiated the environmental terms of hundreds of transactions over the past decade. Jennifer routinely identifies and assesses environmental risks and liabilities, coordinates due diligence, negotiates with regulatory agencies, manages consultants and technical experts, drafts and negotiates contracts and agreements, coordinates lender issues, negotiates environmental insurance coverage, coordinates environmental regulatory approvals, and pursues resolution of regulatory compliance and environmental liability issues. In addition, Jennifer frequently advises private equity funds and financial institutions on environmental liability management, providing risk-counseling and developing mitigation strategies in the context of assessing investment opportunities and entering new markets. She also routinely advises clients on matters related to infrastructure development, including environmental permitting issues and compliance with pipeline safety regulations, and regularly defends and pursues environmental indemnification claims on behalf of clients.

Jennifer's national practice spans every major environmental statute, and she has been recognized for her significant experience in the areas of environmental regulation and transactional matters by The Legal 500. Before law school, Jennifer worked as an environmental consultant, focusing primarily on National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, and Clean Water Act compliance issues in support of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission-regulated pipelines, LNG terminals, and electric transmission lines throughout North America. Through the Practice, Jennifer maintains a worldwide network of environmental consulting, insurance, and legal professionals to provide her clients with all necessary resources during or following their transactions or restructurings.