Practice

Matt is a partner at Starnes Davis Florie and has been with the firm since 2005.  Matt's practice is focused on the representation of sureties, contractors, architects, engineers and other design professionals in the defense and prosecution of business and commercial claims.  He also has experience in a variety of other areas, including commercial litigation, employment law and products liability. 

Highlights

* Successfully opposed various motions for summary judgment in prosecution of a surety's claims for indemnity and exoneration against its principal and indemnitors along with claims for breach of notary obligations and breach of a notary bond against other third parties.

* Obtained a dismissal in federal court of all tort claims brought by a payment bond claimant against a surety.

* Prevailed in summary judgment on behalf of a surety where the court held that the owner/obligee breached a performance bond by limiting who the surety could hire to complete the project when the surety elected to proceed under the takeover provision of the bond.

* Obtained summary judgment on a 42 USC 1983 claim brought against a municipal-owned utility, a former mayor, and the utility operations manager where the plaintiff alleged a violation of procedural due process under the Fourteenth Amendment arising out of the allegedly tortious disconnection of her electrical services.  In the district court, the defendants successfully argued that the plaintiff's procedural due process claim was barred because Alabama state law provided an adequate remedy for the alleged deprivation.  The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the summary judgment on appeal.

* Obtained summary judgment in favor of a municipality and two police officers against an individual who alleged he was wrongfully arrested for capital murder.

* Obtained summary judgment in favor of a municipality where a paramedic services company alleged deprivation of a property interest and procedural due process rights when it was removed from the municipality’s E-911 rotation.

* Successfully compelled to arbitration a plaintiff's claim involving complex reinsurance agreements.

* Obtained a complete dismissal for Honda in a products liability action stemming from allegations of a defect in one of their ATVs.

* Obtained a complete dismissal for a distributor marketing air purifiers to Brookstone Stores in a potential class action dispute.

* Obtained a complete dismissal of claims against a physician stemming from his care and treatment of a prisoner in a county jail.

Honors And Awards

As a student at the University of Alabama School of Law, Matt served as an editor on the Alabama Law Review.

Community Involvement

Matt is an active member of the Birmingham Bar where he has served on various committees and has donated his services to groups such as the YWCA.  He is also involved in the Alabama Surety Association.

Matt, his wife and three children are members of Cahaba Park Presbyterian Church.

Speeches And Publications

* Sureties & the BP Settlement Fund: Southern Surety & Fidelity Claims Conference, Charleston, SC (April 18, 2013).

* The Alabama Chapter of the Fidelity & Surety Law Committee 2013 Mid-Winter Program: The Surety Underwriter's Desk Book published by the American Bar Association (2013).

* Dealing with Your Principal's Affirmative Claims: Southern Surety & Fidelity Claims Conference, Clearwater, FL (April 19, 2012).

 * "Deposition: Practical Skills," Brown Bag Lunch Seminar for Students, Cumberland School of Law, September 23, 2010.

*  "Alabama's Motor Vehicle Lemon Law Statute," presented to representatives of regional Honda and Acura dealerships, May 10, 2007, Birmingham, AL.

Reported Cases

Louise Alexander v. Edward May, 2012 WL 1758612 (11th Cir. 2012)

New View, Inc. v. McCrory Bldg. Co., Inc., 2011 WL 2385906 (N.D. Fla. June 10, 2011)

Guarantee Co. of North America USA v. Wainwright, 2011 WL 1807454 (M.D. Ala. May 11, 2011)

Fidelity & Deposit Co. of Maryland v. Jefferson County Commission, 756 F. Supp. 2d 1329 (N.D. Ala. 2010)

Northbrook Indemnity Co. v. First Automotive Service Corp., N.M., 2008 WL 3009899 (M.D. Fla. Aug. 1, 2008)

First Automotive Service Corp., N.M. v. First Colonial Ins. Co., 2008 WL 816973 (M.D. Fla. Mar. 25, 2008)

Matthews v. Brookstone Stores, Inc., 469 F. Supp. 2d 1056 (S.D. Ala. 2007)

Phillips v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc., 2006 WL 1889564 (S.D. Ala. July 10, 2006)

Phillips v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc., 438 F. Supp. 2d 1328, (S.D. Ala. 2006)

Matthews v. Brookstone Stores, Inc., 431 F. Supp. 2d 1219 (S.D. Ala. 2006)

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