Matt is a litigator who focuses his practice where business and real estate intersect. He views his role as helping clients identify issues, develop strategies and solve problems; when needed, he is ready to step in and litigate disputes. Matt enjoys hearing the stories behind his clients’ businesses, seeing their completed projects, and understanding the hard work and process that goes into making those projects a reality. He enjoys working with builders, design professionals, real estate owners and investors, developers, contractors, building managers, brokers and community associations on a range of issues, including drafting, revising, or simply interpreting and enforcing corporate documents and contracts, and has extensively litigated litigating construction defect and insurance coverage disputes, as well as creditors’ remedies (i.e., collections) matters.
He also represents individuals, local and national banks, and businesses ranging from small family-owned companies to international corporations, including automotive dealers and aftermarket vendors. He has substantial expertise in matters involving corporate or business ownership, including disputes regarding LLC member’s rights under operating agreements and compensation arrangements, advising logistics companies and materials suppliers in disputes around the country, and developing new compensation structures for company executives, among other things. He has served as a mediator on an international contract dispute implicating the UN Commission on Foreign Trade, and as an appraiser on an insurance appraisal panel.
Matt has been recognized by his inclusion in U.S. News and World Report’s listing of The Best Lawyers In America®, as well as the list of Minnesota’s Rising Stars, a distinction afforded to only 2.5% of Minnesota attorneys in any given year. He has been quoted in numerous articles related to his real estate and litigation practice, including those published online at msn.com, YahooFinance.com and Bankrate.com, and in print in Minnesota Lawyer. Matt has also been asked to serve as co-chair for the Hennepin County Bar Association’s Real Estate Section.
Matt also has particular expertise in legal matters relating to community associations, including working extensively with community property managers, management companies and boards of directors for homeowners associations and has been a leader in the industry, sitting on the Board of Directors and even as President for the Minnesota Chapter of Community Associations Institute, an international organization helping to educate and promote the vision of better run communities. He has been quoted in and authored scores of articles in this field as well, including those appearing at HOALeader.com, Habitat Magazine and the Minneapolis StarTribune, as well as Minnesota Community Living Magazine and CIC Midwest News, and has presented at seminars in Minnesota and on national webcasts on topics that affect community associations and their managers.
Outside the firm, Matt enjoys spending time with his family at the lake and his kids’ sporting events, and reading, talking about and looking at cars.
Notable Representations
Real Estate
- Advised a group of investors engaged in reinstating a prior investment vehicle used to develop a real estate project and a subsequent 29-unit purchase and sale, including purchasing a portion of pre-existing debt related to the project and obtaining new financing.
- Advised developers in formation of community associations, considerations relating to organizational structure, and construction contracts.
- Guided entity facing substantial losses due to an agent’s fraud in the recovery of substantial sums resulting in a more favorable outcome than other victims who were advised to pursue more costly and less successful strategies.
- Represented a national restaurant and bar chain in litigation involving claims in excess of $5 million for rent and property damage in a high-profile site.
- Assisted community associations in disputes of all kinds including with developers, contractors, insurance companies, owners, neighboring property owners, governmental agencies, and other issues relating to governing documents, policies and procedures.
- Obtained summary judgment establishing adverse possession against multiple neighboring landowners in a hotly contested boundary dispute.
- Defended a real estate agent and brokerage against claims of negligence and fraud, including successfully briefing and arguing plaintiff’s motion to amend the complaint on the second day of trial, and obtaining a zero jury verdict
- Prosecuted and defended numerous disputes involving interests in real estate, including mechanic’s liens, leases, partition actions, boundary disputes, title, and other matters.
- Represented property owners through summary judgment and, at trial, established defendant was a general contractor and had not earned fees by abandoning project.
Business/Logistics/Employment Matters
- Advised general counsel for one of the three most highly circulated newspapers in the world regarding collection practices.
- Advised client engaged in dispute filed in the Northern District of California by technology fund over ownership of intellectual property rights related to software application for the delivery of medical services.
- Within two days of learning that a financial institution erroneously issued a wire transfer of almost $200,000 over the intended transfer amount, obtained a complete refund by the financial institution on behalf of an automotive dealership.
- Represented logistics and transportation companies involved in matters throughout the country, including catastrophic injury matters, contract enforcement and insurance coverage disputes.
- Obtained recovery for automotive reseller and dealer in dispute regarding management, control, and division of profits of combined dealership venture.
- Developed a strategy for structuring employment and compensation for executives in a startup to facilitate both growth of the business while maintaining the executives’ earning potential.
- Represented auto dealership in bankruptcy of a check cashing service to obtain a priority status for a portion of its claim and advised regarding the availability and merit of other arguments resulting in a greater net recovery than other creditors who were less discerning in their strategies.
- Represented a business or a highly compensated employee or seller of business in numerous actions, including seeking emergency injunctive relief, to enforce non-competition, non-solicitation, and/or trade secret protection provisions.
- Represented a business in the interpretation and enforcement of a stock purchase agreement that became the subject of a determination of whether the stock was properly a part of the bankruptcy estate, including litigating the matter in bankruptcy court in Texas.
Construction Litigation
Successfully represented community associations and other parties in construction defect matters relating to negligence, breach of contract, and/or breach of warranties resulting in millions of dollars in recoveries, including:
- In a complex, 20-party lawsuit, elicited deposition testimony eliminating affirmative defenses, successfully opposed multiple motions for summary judgment, and negotiated the resolution of a construction defect suit involving claims in excess of $10 million.
- Negotiated a settlement in a construction defect matter resulting in the complete replacement of the roofs, plus additional inspection and repair protocols in a community association on a project estimated at approximately $2 million.
Creditor’s Remedies and Bankruptcy