Stephen Gillespie
Biography
General Counsel, LetterOne
Stephen Gillespie is General Counsel of LetterOne with responsibility for all legal, risk and compliance matters across the group (www.letterone.com). LetterOne is a multi-strand investment firm with approximately USD 25 billion of assets under management and sizeable investments in the technology, energy, retail and healthcare sectors.
Stephen was born and educated in Northern Ireland (Friends' School Lisburn, 1967-1973, Foyle College, Londonderry, 1974-1981) and at Trinity College, University of Oxford (1981-1984 - BA, Honours (2:1), 1984, MA 1989) and The College of Law in Guildford (1984-1985, Law Society Final Exams, 1985). He was admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England & Wales in 1987 and to the Roll of Solicitors in Ireland in 2017.
Stephen joined LetterOne in January, 2018. In private practice, Stephen’s work focussed on complex business transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, recapitalizations, workouts and restructurings.
Stephen’s career as a lawyer in private practice dates back to 1985:
1985-1987: Articled Clerk, Stephenson Harwood
1987-1991: Associate, Freshfields
1991-1995: Associate, Allen & Overy LLP
1995-2006: Partner, Allen & Overy LLP - Head of Leveraged Finance Practice; Co-Head, Global Banking Practice; Strategy Partner.
2006-2015: Partner, Kirkland & Ellis LLP – Senior partner, EMEA Debt Finance Practice
2015-2018: Partner, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP – Co-Chair, Global Finance Practice.
Stephen is a founder member of the advisory board for the Oxford University Masters in Law and Finance programme. He is a member of the Finance Committees of Ripon College, Cuddesdon and St. Albans Cathedral.