Matthew T. Sessions

Commercial Litigation & Trials

• Patrick Byrne / Balboa Capital. Served as lead trial counsel for Patrick Byrne in litigation arising from Ameris Bank’s acquisition of Balboa Capital and alleged failure to pay compensation under an earn-out and long-term incentive arrangement. Matt took over the case approximately six months before trial, after discovery had closed and with significant pleading and expert issues remaining. Following a two-week federal jury trial, Matt and the Allen Matkins team secured an approximately $80 million verdict, including more than $16 million in compensatory damages and approximately $63 million in punitive damages.
• Patrick Hall. Represented Patrick Hall in a New York trial arising from a severance agreement and the former employer’s failure to respond to third-party employment inquiries as required by the agreement. Allen Matkins took over the matter after summary judgment with significant evidentiary challenges, including the prior exclusion of the damages expert. The team built the damages case through circumstantial evidence and secured a $3.9 million jury verdict. Hall is also entitled to recover attorneys’ fees under the prevailing-party provision in the relevant contract.
• USI Insurance Services. Represented USI Insurance Services and its employees in a high-stakes defamation and related tort action brought by former employees seeking more than $100 million in damages. Matt played a leading role in developing and executing the defense strategy, which resulted in complete summary judgment dismissing all claims with prejudice and eliminating more than $100 million in claimed exposure without the need for trial.
• Private Equity Firm. Represented a private equity firm in defending against breach-of-contract claims and successfully pursued counterclaims for fraud and negligence.*
• Social Media Company. Represented a social media company in multidistrict litigation involving data-privacy claims.*

Employment Litigation & Class Actions

• PAGA Trial Victory and Appellate Affirmance. Defended a labor-intensive agricultural employer with a large non-exempt workforce against statutory and PAGA claims involving a class and PAGA group of approximately 2,000 current and former employees. Obtained a complete defense verdict at trial and a $0 judgment for the employer, and successfully defended the result on appeal, with the Court of Appeal affirming the judgment in full.*
• Wage-and-Hour Class Decertification and Trial. Defended an employer in wage-and-hour and PAGA litigation involving overtime, meal-period, and rest-period claims. After class certification, obtained decertification approximately one month before trial, narrowing the matter from approximately 500 employees to three individual plaintiffs. Following trial, the plaintiffs recovered approximately $20,000 in total despite originally seeking approximately $5 million.*
• $100 Million Wage-and-Hour Judgment Reversed on Appeal. Represented an employer on appeal from an approximately $100 million adverse wage-and-hour judgment involving alleged miscalculation of bonuses and overtime wages. Obtained complete reversal of the judgment from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.*
• Life Sciences Company – Arbitration and Dismissal of Class Claims. Represented a life sciences company in a putative employment class action in which the plaintiff sought to litigate individual and class claims despite an arbitration agreement containing a class-action waiver. The court rejected the plaintiff's challenges to arbitration, ordered the plaintiff to arbitrate his individual claims, enforced the class-action waiver, dismissed the class claims, and stayed the court action pending arbitration.
• California Law Firm – Employee Raiding and Unfair Competition. Represented a California law firm in litigation arising from an alleged coordinated effort by former senior attorneys and competing firms to solicit clients and employees, misuse confidential information, and divert business. Matt led an early-stage strategy involving forensic investigation, targeted review of electronic communications, and aggressive discovery that positioned the matter for a favorable resolution while protecting the client's workforce and client relationships.
• Nationwide FLSA Class Actions. Obtained complete dismissal of all class-action claims in three simultaneously filed nationwide class actions alleging violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.*
• PAGA and Wage-and-Hour Dismissal. Obtained complete dismissal of statewide PAGA claims alleging failure to pay wages for all hours worked, failure to provide meal and rest breaks, and failure to pay overtime.*
• Statewide Class Certification Victory. Defeated class certification in a statewide class action brought by employees of an online school system alleging violations of California's expense-reimbursement laws.*
• State Attorney General Litigation and Bench Trial. Represented a gig-economy company in litigation with a state attorney general's office and obtained an agreement allowing the company's business operations to continue in the state following a month-long bench trial.*
• Healthcare Staffing Company – Class Claims Dismissed and Arbitration Compelled. Represented a healthcare staffing company in employment litigation in which Matt successfully compelled arbitration, obtained dismissal of the class claims, and removed the dispute from court.*
• Healthcare Staffing Company – Early Arbitration Resolution. Represented a healthcare staffing company in an employment matter in which the defense persuaded opposing counsel to stipulate to arbitration without the need for motion practice.
• Illinois Employment Class Action – Arbitration and Early Resolution. Represented an employer in an Illinois employment class action and, through early engagement and arbitration strategy, persuaded opposing counsel to withdraw the class claims and stipulate to arbitration. The individual action subsequently resolved for a low four-figure amount.*
• Employment-Related Government Investigations. Negotiated complete dismissal of government investigations involving alleged violations of state and federal employment laws.*
• International Internal Investigations. Represented multiple publicly traded companies in conducting internal investigations involving operations in Spanish-speaking countries.*

* Matters completed prior to joining Allen Matkins.