Matthew L. Knowles

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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