A seasoned attorney with two decades of experience in private practice has been selected to head the staff of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, it was announced today.
William V. O’Reilly, a long time partner in the Washington office of the Jones Day law firm, has been chosen for the position of Chief Counsel/Staff Director by the committee’s chairman, Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) and Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV), its ranking minority member. O’Reilly’s appointment has also been approved by a majority vote of the panel’s full membership.
“Bill O’Reilly is an exceptionally qualified attorney with strong leadership skills – both of which will serve him well in this challenging position,” said Hastings and Mollohan in a joint statement.”I look forward to assisting the committee in its important work, and to entering public service after many years of private practice,” said O’Reilly following the committee’s vote.
The lawmakers noted that O’Reilly was chosen from a field of more than 90 applicants, and the Committee looks forward to Mr. O’Reilly’s assuming his duties as soon as possible after concluding pending matters in his private practice.
In addition to O’Reilly, the ethics panel also expects to hire a full complement of investigative attorneys and other professionals in coming months.
O’Reilly has been an attorney in the litigation practice at Jones Day since 1986, and a partner since 1996. He is a graduate of both the University of Virginia (1980) and the University of Virginia School of Law (1986), where he was a member of the law review. He resides in Falls Church, Virginia with his wife and children.