Matthew’s practice includes employment, wage and hour, and commercial counseling and litigation for transportation companies, railroads, and other heavy industry, including energy, construction, and demolition companies, and a variety of mid-market businesses, privately-held LLCs, and individuals.

Matthew has experience in numerous aspects of employment counseling and litigation, including employment discrimination, harassment, and retaliation under Title VII, § 1981, ADA, ADEA, and the Illinois Human Rights Act, compensation issues under the Equal Pay Act, FLSA, and Illinois Minimum Wage Law, trade secrets, and restrictive covenants. Matthew advises employers responding to administrative agency investigations and charges, represents clients in administrative proceedings before charging agencies, and defends employers in state and federal courts.

On behalf of his clients, he has litigated in state and federal courts throughout the State of Illinois and across the Midwest, and has won jury trials in both state and federal courts. Matthew also has defended his victories in the courtroom at the appellate level. As a former Illinois Assistant Attorney General, Matthew has a wealth of experience with government agencies, investigations, administrative laws and regulations, and formal and informal hearings before agencies and administrative law judges.

Matthew has been named a Rising Star in Employment Litigation from 2017 through 2019 by Thomson Reuters’ Super Lawyers — a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The Rising Stars list recognizes the top attorneys who are 40 years of age or younger and have practiced law for 10 years or less. No more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by the research team to receive this honor. Matthew was also honored at the 2019 Jury Verdict Reporter Awards in Chicago for Outstanding Defense Verdict in an FELA case for a February 2019 trial win.

EDUCATION

Gonville & Caius College of the University of Cambridge, Certificate in International Relations, 2003
James Madison College at Michigan State University, B.A. International Relations, 2006
University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, J.D., 2009

BAR ADMISSIONS

Illinois, 2009

COURT MEMBERSHIPS

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Member, Trial Bar)
U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, pro hac vice

PRESENTATIONS & PUBLICATIONS

Co-editor, Illinois Association for Defense Trail Counsel (“IDC”) Survey of Local Government Law Cases, 2012
Author, Uniformed Services Employment & Reemployment Rights Act, IDC Committee Newsletter, 2012
Author, Discretionary Immunity Under the Tort Immunity Act, IDC Monograph, 2014
Author, Employee Handbooks and At-Will Employment in Illinois, IDC Survey of Law, 2014
Author, The Illinois Freedom to Work Act Prohibits Non-Competes with Low-Wage Employees, 2016
Author, Defend Trade Secrets Act: How Businesses are Taking Advantage, 2016
Author, Avoiding USERRA Pitfalls and Dodging USERRA Court Fights, 2018
Author, Federal Court Disposes of Two BIPA Claims Pursuant to Railway Labor Act, 2019
Presenter, The Effective Use of Social Media at Trial, NARTC Fall Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, 2019
Presenter, Emerging Issues in Rail : Crew Size Law Preemption and Jury Instructions in FRSA Whistleblower Cases, Transportation Lawyers Association Chicago Seminar, 2020
Presenter, Model Utility Statute: Problems and Solutions, ARDA Virtual Annual Conference, February 2021

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

American Bar Association
American Railway Development Association – Secretary, Law Committee
Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel
National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel