In addition to his legal work, Matt served as the Attorney General’s voting designee on the Missouri Housing Development Commission.  Matt also had oversight responsibility for the office’s $23 million budget, the office’s legislative affairs and communications activities, and the office’s personnel policies and decisions.

 

Matt previously clerked for the Honorable Nanette K. Laughrey, United States District Judge for the Western District of Missouri. Matt previously was a partner at Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP in Kansas City, and also previously worked as an associate at then-Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin LLP (now Husch Blackwell).

 

Matt earned his law and undergraduate degrees from the University of Missouri. In law school, he served as Editor in Chief of the Journal of Dispute Resolution. Before law school, Matt served as the Campaign Coordinator for Congressman Ike Skelton. Matt is a native of Sedalia, Missouri.

 

Committed to the Craft

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Matt’s practice is primarily centered in federal courts across the country. Some of his current and former representative matters include:

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• Counsel for the City of Kansas City and Jackson County, Missouri related to the ongoing opioid litigation.

• Previously represented the State of Mississippi, the State of Arkansas, and the City of Los Angeles as outside counsel.

• An antitrust matter on behalf of home sellers in various real estate markets.

• A securities matter on behalf of investors who held warrants in a global corporation.

• A nationwide class action on behalf of consumers who purchased premium food bars.

• Business disputes on behalf of private equity funds and other investors.

• A class action on behalf of water customers in Platte County, Missouri.

• A class action on behalf of Nissan owners who experienced floor pan rust in their vehicles.

• Numerous class actions on behalf of patients who were victims of a data breach against their health insurer and/or treatment provider.

• Two classes on behalf of Missouri consumers who paid unlawful fees for their medical health records.

 

Matt’s cases have recovered millions of dollars for public entities, consumers, and businesses.

 

In addition to his civil litigation work, Matt has also served as a prosecutor during his time at the Attorney General’s office and as a Special Prosecutor for the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in Jackson County. In his prosecutorial positions, Matt’s work has focused on white-collar crime consisting of mortgage fraud and other fraudulent transactions.

 

​Committed to the Profession

 

Federal courts in Missouri routinely call on Matt to assist them.

 

In 2018, Matt was appointed by the Western District of Missouri to serve on the Merit Selection Panel to vet candidates for a vacant U.S. Magistrate Judge position. Matt was one of seven attorneys chosen to serve on the Panel.

 

In 2019, the Court again asked Matt to serve on the Merit Selection Panel for a different vacant Magistrate position. In this latter appointment, the Court selected Matt to serve as Chair of the Panel.

 

Previously Matt served on the Civil Practice Committee for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, and he previously served on the committee that was responsible for formulating the Court’s ESI Principles. Matt was appointed to serve on these committees by the judges of the Western District of Missouri.

 

In addition to his service to the Court, Matt also is active in the legal community in several respects. Matt has been affiliated with the governing boards for the following legal organizations:

 

• Legal Aid of Western Missouri (President; Past Treasurer; Executive Committee; Executive Director Search Committee);

• Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys (Board of Governors; AAJ State Delegate); and

• Federal Court Advocates Section for the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association (Past President).

 

Committed to the Community

 

Matt’s community service is not limited to the legal profession. In the not-for-profit sector, Matt serves on the Executive Committee for The American Legion Boys State of Missouri, and previously served as the Director of Missouri Boys State for five years. He has volunteered for Boys State for over twenty years.

 

Matt also serves on governmental boards and commissions by appointment:

 

• In 2021, Missouri Governor Mike Parson appointed Matt to serve on the state’s Senate Independent Bipartisan Citizens Commission. This group is tasked with attempting to draw Missouri Senate district maps using the 2020 census data.

 

• In October 2012, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon appointed Matt to serve on the Missouri Development Finance Board.  The Missouri Development Finance Board administers a range of financing programs for Missouri businesses, local governments and state agencies; issues taxable or tax-exempt industrial revenue bonds or notes; and provides market rate or low-interest loans and grants to political subdivisions to fund public infrastructure improvements.  In June 2016, Matt was elected to serve on the Executive Committee for the Missouri Development Finance Board, and he currently serves as the Secretary. Additionally, he is Chair of the Personnel Committee.

 

• In early 2017, Mayor Sly James appointed Matt to serve on the City Plan Commission.  The eight-member Commission conducts public hearings on applications and plans that involve development or redevelopment of property in Kansas City, Missouri, including rezoning applications, development plan approval, approved development plan amendments, subdivision of land, street and alley vacations amendments, land use and street widening plan and other applications. Matt’s service on the City Plan Commission concluded in 2019.

 

• Previously, in May 2013, Mayor Sly James appointed Matt to serve as co-chair of Kansas City’s Charter Review Committee.  The panel was comprised of 13 residents, and it reviewed the City Charter and recommended changes to the Mayor and City Council.

 

Additionally, Matt is active in local politics, frequently serving as Treasurer for campaign committees and in other roles. Matt previously served as Treasurer for Progress KC, which was instrumental in authorization campaigns related to Kansas City’s new airport, streetcar, and GO Bonds.

 

Honors and Awards

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In 2012, the University of Missouri School of Law named Matt its Distinguished Recent Graduate, and Missouri Lawyers Weekly identified him as an “Up and Coming Lawyer” in 2011.

 

In 2016, Ingram’s magazine named Matt one if its 40 Under Forty honorees.

 

Additionally, he is consistently recognized as a Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyer, and Best of the Bar by the Kansas City Business Journal.

 

Bar Admissions

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Matt is admitted to practice in the following courts:

• Supreme Court of the United States

• Missouri

• Kansas

• New York

• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri

• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri

• U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas