Matt utilizes his broad litigation and trial experience, along with his commitment to public interest to handle diverse complex civil litigation matters, including federal securities disputes, high-value contract and business tort claims, as well as federal CERCLA and state law environmental matters.
Matt is a trial attorney with a diverse complex litigation practice covering subject matter areas, ranging from federal securities disputes and high-value contract and business tort claims, to federal CERCLA and state law environmental matters. He has represented employers and defended executives in the U.S.'s largest corporations, and has published material regarding the rights of corporate officers regarding advancement and indemnification of defense costs.
Additionally, Matt holds leadership roles in a number of professional organizations, most recently serving as the 60th president of the Federal Bar Association for the Eastern District of Michigan. He is serving a second term as the president of the Board of Trustees for the Court Historical Society for the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan. Through appointment by the judges of the Eastern District of Michigan, Matt serves as a member of the Local Rules Advisory Committee, which is comprised of attorneys who advise the court on revisions to its local rules. He served for nearly a decade on the U.S. Courts Committee for the State Bar of Michigan, and is a former director of the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association.
Matt's practice also includes a strong and long-standing commitment to pro bono and public interest litigation. On the eve of the 2008 general election, Matt successfully pursued a federal voting rights case that challenged the systematic purging of voter lists and related disenfranchisement of thousands of Michigan voters. His work on the case was recognized by the American Lawyer magazine in a June 2009 feature entitled "Franchise Players," and he was awarded Pepper Hamilton's William R. Klaus Pro Bono Award "in recognition of [his] distinguished role in protecting the fundamental right to vote and [his] inspiration to Pepper lawyers to be defenders of the constitutional rights of all." Matt is the only attorney to have been awarded the Klaus Award a second time, receiving it again in 2014 for his work on a federal lawsuit challenging Michigan's child removal laws and procedures. The case was recognized by Michigan Lawyers Weekly in its annual "Most Important Opinions" review.
Matt heads the firm's Michigan litigation practice and serves on its national pro bono committee.
Trial and Dispute Resolution