Biography

Matt serves as chair of the Davis|Kuelthau’s Appellate, Commercial Litigation and Employment Litigation Practices. He represents clients in all aspects of litigation over commercial contracts, construction disputes, real property claims, and intellectual property matters. Matt helps plaintiffs and defendants achieve desirable results both in and out of court. His primary client base includes small to mid-size businesses, construction companies, and municipalities. He also works with individuals who have contract, construction and high-fee disputes.

Matt handles a variety of complex litigation matters based on his litigation skills and case management experience. In a case involving a serious construction accident, Matt defended allegations of negligence, breach of contract, and fraud from the initial pleadings to and through a 6-week jury trial. Matt represented family trusts involved in a series of estate and commercial claims when the death of a principal coincided with the sale of the family business. Matt also helped negotiate a resolution for a construction company in multi-million dollar dispute with a municipality, reaching a great result for both sides before expensive discovery. And Matt frequently assists business owners in intra-company disputes.

Since 2009, Matt has served on the board of the State Bar’s Construction and Public Contracting Section for the Wisconsin State Bar and was the Chairman of the Section in 2012-2013. He has also served on multiple State Bar tasks forces. Currently, Matt is an officer on the Section Leaders Council of the Bar. Matt has written articles and given presentations on construction defect litigation, lien law issues, and trial presentation. He has repeatedly been recognized as a Wisconsin Super Lawyer and by Best Lawyers® in America. Matt is a graduate of Boston College and Marquette University Law School.

Representative Clients

• Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District
• Advance Cast Stone, Co.
• J.P. Cullen & Sons, Inc.
• Village of Elm Grove
• CTI Systems, Inc.
• Dynamic Drinkware LLC

Notable Representations

Construction Cases

Advance Cast Stone, Co. Represented precast concrete subcontractor regarding a partial façade collapse at the O’Donnell Park garage in Milwaukee, which caused a death, several injuries, and extensive property damage. The company was accused of defective construction, breach of contract, and fraud 20 years after the project was complete. The case was tried for 6 weeks to a jury.

J.P Cullen & Sons, Inc. Represented general contractor after pieces of terra cotta fell from the newly renovated terra cotta façade at the historic Milwaukee City Hall. Design defects and faulty construction were alleged and the city sought over $18 million in damages. Matt helped negotiate an early settlement, avoiding expensive litigation and getting the iconic building fixed.

VJS Construction, Inc. Represented subcontractor on its lien claim when financing for the multimillion dollar Staybridge project ran out and the project stalled. Matt got the subcontractor over 95% of the amounts due.

City of Oak Creek Matt represents a municipality/project owner over design errors and omissions that caused six-figure cost overruns for construction of a maintenance facility.

Village of Elm Grove Matt assisted in the representation of the Village of Elm Grove against a tunneling contractor whose excessive delays, faulty construction and improper change orders caused monetary damage. After a seven day trial, the village prevailed on its claims, recovered over $1.5 million in damages and litigation fees, and defeated the multi-million dollar change order demand.

Barr Engineering Matt also assisted in an arbitration on behalf of a structural engineering firm sued for millions of design errors and lost business stemming from Wisconsin's largest flagpole, and a great result was achieved.

CTI Systems, Inc. Matt won a motion to dismiss on a construction contract case in the District Court of Kansas brought by a general contractor. The issue involved the enforceability of a forum selection clause and Kansas public policy, where the contract not only called for suit to be brought before the Court of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, but also where CTI had already obtained a default judgment. The Court concluded Luxembourg was the proper forum.

Commercial Litigation

Cranberry Creek Homeowners Association Represents a homeowners association against the neighboring condo association over a dispute about the terms of an easement for the shared expenses of a common area.

Local Resident Matt represented a homeowner who purchased property on Lake Okauchee in 2004. He planned to build a house, but at the start of construction substantial errors were discovered in the survey that he received from the seller prior to purchase. The case was tried, and both the seller and the surveyor were found responsible. The buyer recovered over $50,000 in damages.

HealthEOS by Multiplan Matt assisted in the representation of a preferred provider network for health care services in an arbitration brought by an emergency medical physician group over contractual obligations relating to repricing procedures. The result was a finding of no breach of contract.

Environmental Law

MMSD Defense of Claims Alleging Damage to Local Businesses Matt assisted in the representation of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District in defense of claims alleging that the Deep Tunnel system created the dewatering of the downtown area and damage to a local business. The plaintiff sought over $12 million. The claims that were defeated at trial, but after appeal, the plaintiff recovered $100,000.

Local Farmer Represented a farmer experiencing flooding and damage from stormwater runoff from neighboring subdivision.

Intellectual Property

Dynamic Drinkware Represents maker of lenticular image products against allegations of infringement against 7 patents.

Lavelle Industries Represented maker of replacement plumbing parts against an infringing company and secured a license agreement.

Insurance

Lippert Tile, Inc. Served as coverage counsel for subcontractor in a multi-party litigation on a multi-million residential construction project, secured coverage from multiple policy providers, and helped broker a favorable settlement.

Appellate

Appellate Case Morack v. Town of Waukesha, 2012 WI App. 88 (unpublished)

Appellate Case Bostco v. Milw. Metro. Sewerage Distr., 2011 WI App. 76, 334 Wis. 2d 620

Appellate Case Reuben v. Koppen, 2010 WI App. 63, 324 Wis. 2d 758

Appellate Case Jares v. Ullrich, 2003 WI App. 156, 266 Wis. 2d 322

Leadership

Professional Activities

Member, State Bar of Wisconsin

Chair, State Bar of Wisconsin’s Section Leaders Council (SLC) (2018 - present)

Advisor, Immediate Past President, State Bar of Wisconsin, board member for the Construction, and Public Contracting Section Board

Member, Milwaukee Bar Association

Member, Defense Research Institute

Member, Civil Trial Counsel of Wisconsin

Member, American Bar Association

Member, Barrister's