The ‘excellent’ team at Kirkland & Ellis LLP is renowned for its ability in handling high-stakes, multi-jurisdictional mergers, with its strengths on full display in the recent trial win over the DOJ in UnitedHealth’s $13.8bn acquisition of Change Healthcare. The team handles an ample influx of HSR filings and possesses standout capabilities in acting for clients before the DOJ and FTC, hailing from the worlds of aerospace, energy, pharma and retail. Matthew Reilly is a key figure in the team, noted for his focus on antitrust litigation, complex transactions and government investigations where major clients depend on him to navigate the approval process for high-profile transactions. Marin Boney  frequently represents clients before the FTC and DOJ in merger reviews and government investigations, while Richard Cunningham is noted for his litigation capabilities. The team has been strengthened by the arrival of Christopher Leach who joins from Mayer Brown and Rebekah Tobison Scherr who joins from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, and New York's Daniel Zach, who arrived from Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP in January 2024. All practitioners mentioned are based in Washington DC unless otherwise stated.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Excellent top-notch practice.'
  • ‘The Kirkland merger control practice is highly strategic and prepares for the possibility of merger litigation at an early stage.’

  • ‘Matt Reilly and Rich Cunningham are highly experienced former FTC lawyers who provide invaluable strategic antitrust advice and counsel. The antitrust litigation team headed by Craig Primis and Winn Allen was first class, highly competent trial counsel, capable of distilling complex antitrust, economic, and business issues into digestible evidentiary presentations to a court.’

Key clients

  • BAE Systems
  • EQT Corporation
  • Eli Lilly
  • Energy Transfer
  • FJ Management (Maverik)
  • Fortune Brands
  • Oak Street Health
  • Resonetics
  • Six Flags Entertainment
  • Specialty Products & Insulation
  • Southeastern Grocers
  • Tenet Healthcare
  • Teva Pharmaceuticals
  • Thoma Bravo
  • UnitedHealth Group
  • World Wrestling Entertainment

Work highlights

  • Represented UnitedHealth Group (UHG) against the DOJ at trial in its challenge to UHG’s $14 billion acquisition of Change Healthcare.
  • Advised EQT Corporation on its $5.2 billion acquisition of Tug Hill’s upstream assets from Quantum Energy Partners, which closed pursuant to an FTC remedy that required no asset divestitures and imposed no post-closing behavioral obligations on EQT.
  • Advised Fortune Brands on its acquisition of divested assets in the Assa Abloy/Spectrum Brands transaction, in which the DOJ sued, forcing the parties to “litigate the fix,” then settled before trial.

Lawyers

Hall of Fame
The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
Hall of fameKirkland & Ellis LLP
Matt focuses on a wide range of antitrust matters, including complex transactions (and any related litigation), antitrust counseling, and government investigations. Matt is frequently relied upon to obtain regulatory clearance for many of the toughest, high profile deals. Representative clients and transactions include Bristol-Myers Squibb in its acquisition of Celgene, AbbVie in its pending acquisition of Allergan, Liqui-Box in its acquisition of DS Smith Plastics, Staples in its acquisition of Essendant, GlaxoSmithKline in its joint venture with Pfizer, Tronox in its acquisition of Cristal’s TiO2 business, Spectrum Brands’ sale of Rayovac to Energizer, Mazor Robotics’ sale to Medtronic, Sycamore Partners, Health Care Service Corporation, Blackstone, and Cinven.
Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Marin Boney is an antitrust and competition partner in Kirkland’s Washington, D.C., office. Ms. Boney regularly represents clients before the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice in complex merger reviews and government investigations. She also counsels clients on a range of business issues, including joint ventures, pricing, and distribution agreements. Ms. Boney has represented clients in a wide variety of industries, with particularly strong experience in software and technology, energy, healthcare, and consumer products and services transactions.Before law school, Ms. Boney was an analyst at the economic consulting firm Lexecon Inc. (now part of Compass Lexecon).

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Matthew Reilly

Other key lawyers

Marin Boney, Ian John, Andrea Murino, Richard Cunningham, Craig Primis, Winn Allen, Christopher Leach, Rebekah Tobison Scherr