Jeffrey Kilduff. Courtesy Photo.

After more than 30 years at law firm O'Melveny & Myers, Washington, D.C., managing partner Jeffrey Kilduff is ready for a change—he's going in-house. Kilduff recently joined Virginia-based sanitization solutions company airPHX as director and general counsel.

AirPHX creates products that disinfect air and spaces of harmful bacteria, molds and viruses. It's used to sanitize places where food is processed and stored, as well as health- and sports-related spaces. Kilduff invested in the startup two years ago with two friends, and recently decided to work with the growing business full-time.

“I wouldn't have left my partnership at O'Melveny if I wasn't a true believer,” Kilduff wrote on his LinkedIn. “The technology is nothing short of amazing.”

Even though Kilduff has spent his entire legal career at O'Melveny, where he started work after graduating from Georgetown University Law Center, he's experienced at partnering with and representing businesses. At O'Melveny, Kilduff assisted companies with their internal corporate investigations and counseled businesses on compliance. He's also worked on several class actions in antitrust cases.

“The litigation experience was very helpful, combined with my seven years before I went into practicing law in business,” Kilduff told Corporate Counsel. “And I was the managing partner in D.C. and that gave me a lot of experience with the personnel issues and administration issues.”

And before Kilduff went into law, he was an entrepreneur. During his time at the University of Maryland, where he earned a business degree, Kilduff started a computer micrographics company. In 1985, he sold the company to a competitor.

At airPHX, Kilduff will do regulatory legal work, but he'll also play a role in marketing, planning, selling and writing proposals. It's a wide range of responsibilities, but Kilduff says he's ready for the challenge—and a calmer in-house lifestyle.

“I'm excited to stop living my life in six-minute, billable increments,” he said.