About Matt

Education:

J.D., Criminal Law Concentration, University of California, Hastings College of the Law (Now UC College of the Law, San Francisco)
B.A., Criminal Justice, California State University, Fullerton

Internships and Clerkships:

Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, General Felonies & Misdemeanors, Sex Crimes, Forensic Mental Issues, B.A.T. Unit (Batteries, Assaults, and Thefts)
San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office, Misdemeanors and General Felonies
San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, Homicide/Trial Integrity (Brady) Unit
Orange County District Attorney’s Office, Gang Unit

Professional Memberships and Admittances:

California State Bar, Licensed Since 2014
United States Central District Court (Federal Practice)
National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
Los Angeles County Bar Association

From Matt:

I made the decision to start my own office in 2018.  Being from Los Angeles County and seeing how other defense attorneys ran their business and interacted with clients and their families, I knew that I could provide better service and aggressive representation by opening my own office.  I have been a practicing criminal defense attorney for nearly a decade, and  I worked at various District Attorney’s offices as a law clerk so I became quite familiar with the inner workings of prosecutorial offices and the criminal justice system.

Prior to starting my own firm, I previously worked for a few years at a high-volume boutique criminal defense firm headed by a former death penalty prosecutor dealing in extremely serious cases like sex crimes and homicide.  Within a few months of accepting a position with that firm I began taking my own clients in addition to handling the firm’s numerous clients, and I began to notice that I wanted to do things than many other attorneys…

One of my first clients ever was a father whose adult daughter was locked up and looking at several felonies.  He had retained a local criminal defense attorney to whom he had paid a substantial retainer fee.  Yet, for four months, the attorney never once visited his client, despite his office being four blocks from the jail!  The attorney even demanded that the father pay him more money to go visit his client!  Needless to say, the father hired me after a lengthy discussion of what I could do for him and his loved one, and I visited that jail 3 times in less than a month, securing my client’s release from custody and a favorable disposition that the other attorney was unable to obtain.  From that day on, after being exposed to the inexcusable actions of others (which I continue to see to this day) , I have always tried to set an example to my colleagues as an attorney who is always available to his clients and does everything he can to secure the most favorable outcome for his clients.  All of my clients and their loved ones have access to my cell phone so they can ask me questions, update me, or even tell me about an emergency they might have.

Something I also do is give straight, no-nonsense advice based on my experience working every day in criminal law.  I will not sugarcoat what I think the outcome of a particular case will be, nor will I try to scare a potential client into hiring me by overstating the seriousness of their charges and stating I’m the only one who can save them.  I once attended a defense attorney conference where an attorney stated he always told clients that any misdemeanor charge might result in a year in jail – despite the fact that he knew most of those charged with misdemeanors rarely see significant jail time (even with a criminal record).  Simply put, he was trying to scare his clients into hiring him by implying they were looking at a lengthy jail stay.  I don’ t do that nor would I ever, and I hope I’m making clear to you the type of attorney I am.

I also pride myself in my ability to see both sides of a case, both as a defense attorney zealously protecting my clients from criminal prosecution, and from the eyes of law enforcement, whether it be a prosecutor or a law enforcement officer.  This kind of thinking is undoubtedly vital for my clients, as I can often anticipate and predict the moves of law enforcement and the prosecution, in addition to being able to talk to the other side about my client’s case in order to secure favorable dispositions.

So what do I do when I’m not in a courtroom, driving to a courtroom, or in my office?  I enjoy playing golf as I used to manage a golf course prior to law school,  tasting the craft beer that Southern California is blessed with from it’s countless world-class breweries, bowling competitively, scuba diving, hiking/backpacking, making pizza from scratch, and karaoke.

-Matt