Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner

Business & Commercial Disputes

Associate - Litigation and Investigations

Matt is an associate in the Litigation & Dispute Resolution and Appellate & Supreme Court practice groups.  His practice focuses primarily on appellate litigation, appellate consulting, and advanced motion practice.  Matt is a skilled writer and strategist with a penchant for simplifying complex legal concepts into clear, concise arguments that keep the court focused on what’s important to its eventual decision.  In addition to his commercial practice, Matt maintains an active pro bono practice, including work on high-profile capital habeas matters.

Matt frequently contributes his thought leadership to various legal publications.  He is a contributor to SCOCAblog, a joint project of the California Constitution Center at Berkeley Law—where he serves as a senior research fellow—and the Hastings Law Journal.  Matt’s work has also appeared on Insider, The Recorder, Expert Forum, and several top-tier law journals.  His writings regularly cover topics such as constitutional and statutory interpretation, federal jurisdiction, federalism, and separation of powers.

Before joining BCLP, Matt was an associate at an Arizona litigation boutique, where he gained a broad range of administrative, trial, and appellate experience, including coauthoring several appellate briefs and second chairing a bench trial that resulted in a favorable verdict for his client.  Before that, Matt spent the first few years of his career as a judicial law clerk at the federal and state levels.  He clerked for Judge Susan R. Bolton of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, Judge Michael Daly Hawkins of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and Chief Justice Robert M. Brutinel of the Arizona Supreme Court.  Matt credits his time in public service for equipping him with a unique vantage point for appellate advocacy, as well as for engraining him with a civic-minded approach to the practice of law.

Matt focused his time as a law student on becoming an effective researcher, writer, and advocate.  He served as an articles and essays editor for the California Law Review, as a judicial extern for William H. Orrick III of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and as a research assistant both to then-Interim Dean Melissa Murray—one of the nation’s foremost experts in the areas of constitutional law, family law, and reproductive rights and justice—and to Professor Andrew Bradt—a leading scholar of civil procedure, conflict of laws, and remedies.  Matt also worked as a senior analyst for a nonprofit focused on state- and county-level correctional reform.

In his free time, Matt likes to spend time with his daughter, sing and play his guitar, watch Penn State football, and enjoy live music and stand-up comedy.

CIVIC INVOLVEMENT & HONORS Senior Research Fellow, California Constitution Center at Berkeley Law (2017–2023) Next Generation Leader, American Constitution Society for Law & Policy Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America (2024) Super Lawyers: Rising Stars (2024) PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS Member, Board of Directors, Arizona Capital Representation Project (2022–present) Member, Board of Directors, American Constitution Society – Arizona Lawyer Chapter (2022–present) CLERKSHIPS

Clerkship, Honorable Robert M. Brutinel, Arizona Supreme Court, 2020-2021

Clerkship, Honorable Michael Daly Hawkins, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 2019-2020

Clerkship, Honorable Susan R. Bolton, U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, 2017-2019