Since 2002, Kathryn Reilly has worked as a full-time attorney, dedicating her legal career to representing clients through complex commercial litigation issues, including antitrust matters and class action lawsuits in many major industries. Starting at Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell LLP in 2014, Reilly currently serves as a partner at the firm in Denver, Colorado.
Reilly also takes an active role by being one of five active members of the firm’s management committee. Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® since 2018 for Commercial Litigation, Reilly is currently being honored as “Lawyer of the Year” for Litigation – Antitrust in Denver for 2023.
Of her recent recognition, Reilly stated: “I share this recognition with the entire team at Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell LLP. This firm’s commitment to a client-first mentality plays a huge part in my day-to-day practice and our continued success as a team. I’m honored to be recognized in the practice area of antitrust law. It’s a field of law that combines two things I love: helping people solve complicated legal problems and being able to learn new things every day. Antitrust law continually evolves every day and can easily shift with the political winds. Our clients are facing antitrust risk and litigation in areas that, until only recently, were never really matters of antitrust interest. Constant vigilance is necessary to effectively counsel and represent clients in antitrust matters.
“In order to be successful as an antitrust attorney, consider the words ‘ownership’ and ‘partnership’ when facing your next client. The client needs to feel that you care even more about their problems than they do and that you are a true partner in finding solutions that advance their greater objectives. Recently, I had the privilege of playing a large role in a case that involved the au pair exchange program administered by the U.S. Department of State. The intersection of antitrust, labor and State Department regulations made for a complex process that threatened an entire industry. With our team’s help, our clients were able to come out the other end successfully and are thriving today.”
With over 20 years of legal experience, Reilly has previously represented antitrust clients in matters involving monopolization, price fixing, exclusive dealing and a number of other competition-related disputes. Additionally, she also regularly provides antitrust counseling and guidance to clients in connection to ongoing joint ventures, establishment of pricing policies and other activities potentially involving antitrust laws.
Concluded Reilly: “Just this past year, our team successfully obtained two preliminary injunctions for one of the nation’s largest health and wellness franchisors against a franchisee who had misappropriated our client’s trade secrets and breached its non-compete obligations. Despite the application of a California statute stating that non-competes are not enforceable, we were able to successfully enjoin the franchisee’s competition by establishing that the franchisee’s misappropriation of our client’s trade secrets created a narrow exception to the statute that supported enforcement of the non-compete provision.”
