Jake’s experience covers strategic risk analysis, global investment law, and the rule of law in multinational ventures. Drawing on his research and international experience, he has written numerous articles for a variety of publications.

While in graduate school, Jake served as executive articles editor of the Boston College International and Comparative Law Review and legal editor of The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs. He also served as an executive board member and project leader for the Harvard Law and International Development Society and was a lead judge in the Model International Criminal Court in Krzyzowa, Poland.

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Matt has an active pro bono practice, where he has challenged wrongful convictions, a death penalty appeal, disputes between students and educational institutions concerning reasonable accommodation and racial discrimination, domestic violence victim protection cases and employment discrimination matters.  He recently represented a traveler in pro bono litigation against TSA after an abusive search and false arrest at an airport checkpoint. This case resulted in an en banc decision from the Third Circuit establishing travelers’ rights to pursue damages from the TSA under the Federal Tort Claims Act.

Matt graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was the recipient of the Charles H. Smith Bequest Scholarship and was named a Dean’s Scholar in the Federal Courts and the Federal System. He served as an honors legal intern in the Office of Legal Counsel for the US Department of Defense and as an intern in the office of the US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. He also served as an intern to the Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court.

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• Represented an international startup incubator in bet-the-company litigation that culminated in a jury trial in the Business Litigation Session of the Massachusetts Superior Court.  Matt led a team that secured an extraordinary result for their client after several years of contentious litigation.
• Defeated class certification and secured other favorable resolutions in a number of putative class actions in state and federal court alleging violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and related state-law data privacy claims. Matt recently led a team that defeated certification of a proposed national class in a TCPA fax case, and then defended this result on appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.  Matt also has substantial experience in representing defendants under the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act (FTSA) and other state-law analogs to the TCPA.
• Successfully resolved all claims against a publicly traded bank that was sued under RICO for providing banking services to a medical marijuana dispensary. Matt was the lead author of the bank’s motion to dismiss. Although the Court allowed the plaintiffs to re-plead, they soon elected to end the litigation and withdraw all claims against the bank on a voluntary basis
• Represented a pharmaceutical sales manager who was charged with healthcare fraud in connection with a nationwide investigation by the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. The manager – who was facing a substantial prison sentence under the federal sentencing guidelines – was sentenced to probation
• A substantial monetary judgment and broad permanent injunction in an extended trade secret dispute in state and federal court involving low-shrink film for the encapsulation of solar panels. This case included appeals to the Massachusetts Appeals Court, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
• Prevailed in a dispute between a hedge fund and a large mutual fund relating to a fundamental issues of corporate governance, including successful defense of the trial court’s decision on appeal before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
• A jury award of compensatory and punitive damages in a civil rights case in federal court in which Matt delivered the opening statement and cross-examined the primary defendant
• Part of a team that represented a state legislature in connection with a federal criminal investigation; the government declined to bring charges against any member of the legislature
• Defended an employee of a healthcare client at a preliminary injunction hearing in Massachusetts Superior Court. The case related to allegations that the client did not follow state law relating to a child residing at the client’s facility. The court denied the injunction and dismissed the case
• Favorable decision on a motion to dismiss in the Delaware Court of Chancery in a dispute between an international pharmaceutical company and a biotechnology firm regarding the development of a novel antibiotic drug
• Bankruptcy adversary proceedings relating to credit-default swaps and other complex financial instruments
• Favorable resolution of an international arbitration and litigation involving virtual reality training software
• Favorable resolution of administrative proceedings related to the distribution of alcoholic beverages
• Favorable resolution of an employment dispute in federal court involving an international humanitarian relief organization

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Byron spent 18 years in-house, where he served in various general counsel roles at Tyco International, including as general counsel of its fire and security and telecom businesses, and as general counsel of its international legal department, a function he created. Byron led many of Tyco’s largest acquisitions, including the $12 billion acquisition of AMP Inc. and the $850 million purchase of AT&T Submarine Systems, and handled hundreds of middle-market deals around the globe. Byron also handled Tyco’s initial foray into medical devices and led many of the deals that formed Covidien, now part of Medtronic.

Byron returned to law firm life 18 years ago with a desire to bring his keen sense of the “voice of the customer” to drive predictability, value and efficiency into the deal process. Byron is a legal project management pioneer and co-chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Committee on Mergers and Acquisitions’ Task Force on Legal Project Management. He is co-editor of the ABA Guidebook “Using Legal Project Management in Merger & Acquisition and Joint Venture Transactions”, now in its third edition. Byron also created the first-of-its-kind web-based collaborative deal management portal, which the Firm adopted and embraced as part of Client Central. He is also one of the Firm’s primary contacts with the Association of Corporate Counsel.

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• Representing Biogen in various licensing and collaboration transactions
• Representing Johnson and Johnson’s Global External Innovation on various early stage financing matters
• Representing DraftKings, Inc. on various corporate matters
• Represented Scipher Medicine, a precision immunology company, in its various financings, including the Series A led by Khosla Ventures, its Series B lead by Northpond Ventures, and its $82 million Series C financing led by aMoon and Northpond Ventures
• Acted for Straumann AG, a global leader in tooth replacement solutions, in its acquisition of ClearCorrect, LLC, a leading manufacturer of clear aligners, for $150 million
• Represented Medtronic in its acquisition of Aircraft Medical, a manufacturer of video laryngoscopes for $110 million and Covidien, now part of Medtronic, in its first equity acquisition in China of Changzhou Kangdi Medical Stapler Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of surgical stapler products
• Represented ASC Engineered Solution, LLC, a leading North American manufacturer and supplier of products that connect, hang and support piping systems, in its acquisitions of Flexhead Industries, Sprinkflex, Basic-PSA, Megawatt Machine and Trenton Pipe Nipple
• Represented Take 5 Media Group, a leading consumer information aggregation and advertising company, in the sale of its business to Advantage Solutions, a leading North American provider of business solutions to consumer goods manufacturers and retailers
• Represented Dimension Data, a global infrastructure solution provider and an NTT Group company, in its acquisition of Nexus IS, Inc., a $471 million information technology solutions provider

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Michael advises issuers and underwriters in debt and equity public offerings and other types of secured transactions. On behalf of insurance companies and other institutional investors, he provides counsel in connection with the private placement of debt and related equity investments and exit strategies. Michael draws on his deep experience with the structure and issuance of convertible and nonconvertible debt and equity securities, and secured and unsecured financings, to advise clients on a wide range of US and international equity derivatives transactions, including swaps and over-the-counter derivatives.

Michael is a member of the firm’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee and was past chair of the Racial and Ethnic Diversity Sub-Committee.

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• Advising beneficiaries concerning challenges to lifetime transactions made by the deceased on the basis of incapacity and potential claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, which were resolved through mediation
• Successfully intervening in English Court proceedings to protect our client’s confidential and commercially sensitive documents from being disclosed in public proceedings
• Advising offshore trustees on potential steps to remedy distributions made in error
• Advising US trustees on the enforcement of US court judgments against an individual resident in England and Wales
• Acting for Guernsey trustees successfully contesting the jurisdiction of the English courts regarding claims arising out of the collapse of Kaupthing bank, concerning Isle of Man shares holding UK property worth approximately £20 million
• Advising a Russian individual on his fiduciary obligations on the sale of shares under a trust (the value of the claim was approximately US$60 million)
• Advising a Guernsey trustee concerning its liability for claims by third-party professional advisers in England
• Acting for a commercial landlord successfully defending a proprietary estoppel/constructive trust claim (worth approximately £3 million), which reached the English Court of Appeal
• Acting for an individual financial adviser defendant in a group litigation action in the pensions sector

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