Jeffrey Kilduff

Partner

Jeffrey Kilduff is a partner in O'Melveny's Washington, DC office and serves as the firmwide Chair of the Securities Litigation Practice.  For more than 20 years, Jeff has worked in the Litigation Department, concentrating on securities litigation and enforcement matters as well as antitrust litigation and counseling.

Jeff's wide-ranging securities practice has included class action defense, the defense of derivative litigation on behalf of individuals and companies, internal corporate investigations, and compliance counseling.  He has also represented numerous companies and individuals in SEC, NYSE, and FINRA investigations, enforcement proceedings, and arbitrations. Jeff is widely regarded as a leader in the field.  He has been recognized by Chambers USA 2010 as a top-tier (Band 1) securities litigator in Washington, D.C.  Described by the guide as one of the area’s “major players,” Jeff earns praise for “skillfully guiding clients through difficult times.”  Chambers also recognizes Jeff as a national “rising star,” commending him for strategically managing large scale proceedings.  The Legal 500 (2010) describes him as a “very fine lawyer, who has great experience in the field.”  Benchmark Litigation (2009) also recognized Jeff as a star in Washington, DC and one of the star securities litigators in the country.

Jeff's antitrust experience includes numerous class actions involving companies in the insurance, healthcare, airline, and paper industries.  He has represented clients in civil and criminal matters before the Department of Justice ("DOJ") and the Federal Trade Commission, and recently successfully defended at trial a foreign paper manufacturer charged with criminal price-fixing.

Before entering private practice, Jeff was a Washington, DC businessman and served for eight years as Vice President of a computer services company, which he co-founded in 1978.

Illustrative Professional Experience

Securities Litigation

• Representing a government-sponsored enterprise in a securities class action filed after the company announced a US$9 billion restatement of earnings; also representing the company in concurrent shareholder derivative suits
• Representing former CFO of wireless telephone service provider in securities class action fraud suit alleging false and misleading statements relating to the company's business prospects, its subscriber base, and the success of its integration efforts after merging with another provider
• Represented CFO of energy company in S.E.C. action alleging securities fraud based upon alleged overstatement of earnings and reserves of natural gas inventories
• Represented the outside directors of a major health insurance company in civil litigation and regulatory proceedings involving allegations of options backdating
• Represented a former CEO of a major Internet service provider in class action and opt-out suits stemming from a restatement of earnings necessitated by a misapplication of GAAP in revenue recognition context
• Represented a biotechnology company in a securities class action and shareholder derivative suits arising from the FDA’s response to a new drug application
• Represented a former board member of WorldCom in the WorldCom class action, opt-out litigation, and derivative suits
• Represented a former board member of NYSE in connection with New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s suit against one-time NYSE Chairman Richard Grasso
• Represented a healthcare provider in derivative cases resulting from a DOJ Medicare fraud investigation
• Represented the former CFO for a retail store in civil class actions, derivatives suits, and an SEC investigation based on alleged accounting irregularities
• Represented a Big Four audit partner in an SEC investigation sparked by the restated financials of a public company audit client
• Represented the former general counsel of a waste disposal company in class actions and derivative suits alleging fraud and misrepresentation
• Represented the former national sales manager for a brokerage firm in NASD, SEC, and OCC investigations of alleged improper practices in the sale of bond funds
• Represented a technology company in a shareholder dispute resulting from dilutive restructuring
• Represented the former COO of a software company in a dispute involving the timing of a stock sale by an insider
• Represented an investment banker and brokerage in yield-burning investigations
• Represented the former national sales manager for a brokerage firm in NASD and SEC investigations of sales practices and in numerous NASD customer arbitrations

Antitrust

• Representing a major hospital operator in numerous antitrust counseling and compliance matters and litigation, including recent Eleventh Circuit ruling affirming the dismissal of Sherman Section 1 suit based on lack of standing
• Representing a major hotel operator in ongoing antitrust counseling and compliance matters
• Represented a Japanese industrial manufacturer in a criminal investigation of potential price fixing
• Represented a Japanese paper manufacturer in a landmark criminal price-fixing case, serving as the second-chair trial counsel in a seven-week jury trial resulting in acquittal. Served as lead counsel in numerous direct and indirect purchaser class actions based on the same alleged conspiracy
• Represented an insurance company in the civil cases consolidated as In re Insurance Antitrust Litigation arising out of the liability insurance crisis of the mid-1980s
• Concluded on behalf of two healthcare providers a class action litigation, a case dating back to 1989 alleging Sherman Section 1 and 2 liability and RICO violations
• Represented a software manufacturer in a Sherman Section 2 case involving licensing of progressive slot machines in Atlantic City
• Represented a major airline in In re Domestic Air Trans. Antitrust Litigation and a parallel government investigation regarding the alleged use of computer reservation systems for purposes of price-fixing

Professional Activities

Admitted, District of Columbia; Virginia
Admitted to Practice, US District Court, District of Columbia, Eastern District of Virginia, and Northern District of California; US Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Virginia; US Court of Appeals, First, Third, Fifth, Seventh, and District of Columbia Circuits
Member, Securities Law360 Editorial Advisory Board (2010)
Co-Author, "Has Janus Pulled The Plug On Group PLeading?", Securities Law360 (November 3, 2011); “When Plaintiffs Overreach: Attacking Flawed Evidence of Loss Causation and Damages in Securities Class Actions (Parts One and Two),” Andrews Securities Litigation and Regulation Reporter (June 2, 2009 and June 16, 2009); “Rulings in Subprime Class-Action Suits Are Turning in Favor of Management,” Investor’s Business Daily (April 27, 2009); “Digimarc: The Final Nail In The SOX 304 Coffin,” Law360 (January 2009); “Bondholders’ State Securities Suits Pose New Threat to Wall Street,” Legal Backgrounder, May 2003; “The Advent of Per Se ‘Plus’: United States v. Nippon Paper and the Limitations of Sherman Act Criminal Enforcement Against Foreign Conspiracies,” 14 Antitrust 26 (Fall 1999)