The following is an excerpt from Practice Perspectives: Vault's Guide to Legal Practice Areas.
Matthew Haddad is a partner in the corporate and financial services department of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP based in New York. His practice focuses on private equity sponsors, growth equity investors, and venture capital firms in domestic and cross-border transactions, in leveraged buyouts, minority investments, growth financings, portfolio company acquisitions and dispositions, and other matters.
Matthew works with many of the world’s leading technology and software investors, including Insight Partners, for whom he helps oversee the firm’s global relationship. He is deeply involved in the structuring, negotiation, and execution of transactions across multiple fund strategies, often advising on complex governance and liquidity matters.
Known for his commercial instincts and collaborative approach, Matthew has guided dozens of high-growth companies and sponsor-backed platforms through transformative transactions. He is a trusted advisor to both deal teams and portfolio company executives.
Matthew received his J.D. from Cornell Law School and his B.A. from Lafayette College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Describe your practice area and what it entails.
I practice in private equity and M&A with a focus on representing private equity sponsors, growth equity investors, and venture capital funds in all stages of the investment life cycle, from minority investments in early-stage growth companies to large-scale platform buyouts and exits. The work blends the technical and the strategic. Every transaction is an exercise in balancing risk allocation, governance rights, and commercial objectives. I spend a significant amount of time helping clients structure investments efficiently, navigate regulatory regimes (from Hart-Scott-Rodino filings to foreign investment controls), and manage complex shareholder dynamics across cap tables. Our group at Willkie is known for its sponsor-side depth and its ability to handle both middle-market and large-cap transactions seamlessly. My own practice tends to sit at the intersection of private equity and technology, where I advise investors deploying capital into software, fintech, and data-driven businesses that are scaling globally.
What types of clients do you represent?
I primarily represent private equity, growth equity, and venture capital firms, including Insight Partners, one of the world’s most active software investors. My clients also include a number of emerging growth funds, family offices, and founder-led companies seeking institutional investment.
Because many of my clients operate globally, I regularly coordinate with our European offices in London, Paris, and Frankfurt, as well as with local counsel in jurisdictions ranging from Israel to Singapore. Increasingly, my practice involves cross-border financings, secondary transactions, and bespoke growth equity structures that straddle the line between venture and buyout investing.
While most of my work is sponsor-side, I also represent management teams and portfolio companies on governance, recapitalizations, and add-on acquisitions, which provides a 360-degree view of the deal ecosystem.
What types of cases/deals do you work on?
My deal work spans the full spectrum of private equity and growth investing. Recent matters include leading Insight Partners’ growth investments in enterprise software companies and representing portfolio companies in strategic M&A and recapitalizations.
A representative example of a deal is the sale of Klaus, a customer experience quality management platform, to Zendesk, a transaction that showcased the sophistication of growth-stage M&A involving strategic acquirers. I also handle minority and structured equity deals that require creative governance and liquidity mechanics, areas where experience across both venture and private equity disciplines is invaluable.
Beyond headline transactions, a large portion of my work involves ongoing portfolio support: advising boards on follow-on financings, secondary sales, and complex exit scenarios, often years after the initial investment.
How did you choose this practice area?
I was drawn to private equity because it combines strategic complexity with tangible outcomes. The work is fast-paced and intellectually rigorous, but it’s also deeply relationship-driven. Every deal is a partnership among investors, management, and counsel, and these relationships often span multiple transactions and fund cycles.
Early in my career, I worked across a variety of M&A matters, from public company deals to venture financings. Over time, I gravitated toward sponsor-side work because I enjoyed advising sophisticated repeat players who think long-term about value creation. Private equity requires not only legal acumen but also genuine understanding of how businesses grow, scale, and exit; this strategic element continues to keep me engaged.
What is a “typical” day like and/or what are some common tasks you perform?
No two days are identical, which is part of what I enjoy most. A typical day might start with an early call with a European deal team, followed by internal meetings with associates on transaction documents, and continue in a late afternoon strategy session with a management team preparing for diligence or a board negotiation.
My time can be roughly divided into three buckets: deal execution, client advisory, and team leadership. On the deal side, I’m constantly reviewing term sheets, stock purchase agreements, and governance provisions, ensuring we strike the right commercial balance. Advising clients often involves structuring guidance or problem-solving mid-deal challenges, and a growing part of my role involves mentoring junior lawyers, helping them develop not only technical proficiency but also business judgment and client intuition.
I also spend time on business development by maintaining and expanding client relationships, often by understanding what’s next for a fund or portfolio company before they do.
What training, classes, experience, or skills development would you recommend to someone who wishes to enter your practice area?
For law students, courses in corporate law, securities regulation, tax, and accounting are foundational. Beyond the classroom, the most valuable skill is learning to think like a deal lawyer, understanding how contractual provisions trans-late into economic and governance outcomes.
For junior associates, I recommend focusing early on executional excellence: mastering drafting, organization, and responsiveness. In addition, cultivate curiosity about the “why” of each provision. Read the financial press, follow private equity deal trends, and pay attention to how deal structures evolve.
Equally important are soft skills: composure under pressure, clear communication, and empathy. Our clients operate at a fast pace, and being the steady, solutions-oriented voice in the room often matters as much as the black-letter law.
What is the most challenging aspect of practicing in this area?
The most challenging aspect is managing simultaneous complexity: high stakes, compressed timelines, and multiple constituencies with different incentives. In private equity, every transaction has layers: the sponsor’s economics, the management team’s incentives, the lenders’ covenants, and the target’s internal dynamics.
It’s easy to get lost in the technicalities, but the best lawyers maintain perspective, distilling the noise into a clear path forward. This requires judgment developed over time, as well as a team-oriented mindset. I often tell junior lawyers that private equity is a contact sport: You have to anticipate, communicate, and collaborate constantly to keep the deal moving.
What do you like best about your practice area?
The people. Private equity attracts entrepreneurial, high-energy clients who are passionate about building companies, not just closing transactions. Being in the room as they make bold strategic decisions—and helping shape the outcomes—is immensely rewarding.
I also love the iterative nature of the work. You build relationships that endure across multiple funds and portfolio companies. Watching a founder take a business from Series B to initial public offering or seeing a platform you helped acquire evolve into a global leader provides a sense of continuity and accomplishment that few practice areas can match.
What is unique about your practice area at your firm?
Willkie’s private equity practice combines the resources of a global firm with the cohesion of a boutique. We operate as one integrated team across New York, London, and Europe with no silos for M&A, fund formation, financing, or regulatory specialists. This allows us to move at the speed our clients require while maintaining precision.
Culturally, the firm prizes hands-on partner engagement. Willkie partners stay deeply involved in deals not only for quality control but also because we enjoy the work. This thinking filters through to our associates, who are given meaningful responsibility early and are encouraged to think commercially. It’s a client- and team-first environment that makes the practice both demanding and collaborative.
How do you see this practice area evolving in the future?
Private equity continues to evolve toward flexibility and specialization. The lines between buyout, growth, and venture are blurring as sponsors raise dedicated growth or continuation funds and deploy capital more creatively. I also see an increasing emphasis on data, technology, and operational excellence; investors want to add value beyond capital.
On the legal side, these changes mean more structured deals, secondary liquidity events, and creative financing arrangements. Lawyers who understand not just the documentation but also the business context will be in high demand.
At its core, though, private equity remains about relationships and judgment: knowing your client’s objectives, anticipating issues, and helping them navigate risk with confidence.