Matthew J. "Matt" Reilly

Matt Reilly is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Matt’s practice focuses on a wide range of antitrust matters, including antitrust litigation, complex transactions and antitrust counseling and government investigations. Matt is frequently relied upon to obtain regulatory clearance for many of the toughest, high profile deals.

Matt is a former assistant director of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Bureau of Competition. In this role, he served for five years as the head of the FTC’s Mergers IV division, where he led numerous investigations and oversaw the FTC’s litigation efforts in industries such as hospitals, supermarkets and other retailers, and a variety of consumer products. Previously, Matt served as deputy assistant director for the FTC’s Mergers I division, overseeing investigations and litigation involving mergers in industries such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotechnology, over-the-counter products, defense, aerospace, industrial goods, energy, consumer goods and food products.

As one of the federal government’s leading trial lawyers for more than a decade, Matt served as first-chair litigator representing the FTC in numerous high-profile antitrust trials. Matt led the FTC’s investigations and served as the lead litigator for the FTC in OSF Healthcare/Rockford Memorial Hospital, ProMedica/St. Luke’s, Phoebe Putney/Palmyra, Inova/Prince William, and Whole Foods/Wild Oats. Among many other awards received during his tenure at the FTC, Matt was awarded the FTC’s highest honor, the Chairman’s Award, as recognition for numerous successes in high-profile litigations.

Matt is recognized as a leader in his field by Chambers Global, Chambers USA, The Legal 500, Benchmark Litigation and Who’s Who Legal. He was also the only antitrust attorney honored by The National Law Journal as the “Top Outside Counsel” to America’s Outstanding General Counsel for his success in obtaining US merger clearances.