Matt Singer

Experience

Environmental regulation and litigation

• Defended a mining company executive in a federal jury trial of six felony counts charged under the Clean Water Act, obtaining an acquittal or hung jury on all felony charges.
• Achieved a $2.2 million settlement in a dispute involving environmental contamination.
• Prevailed following a lengthy trial on behalf of a prominent mining company in defending against a constitutional challenge to mineral exploration permits.
• Won a trespass trial for a fishing lodge owner against neighboring lodges that claimed a historic trail allowed them to cross the property and tie up airplanes to its banks.
• Obtained a preliminary injunction for a mining company halting termination of an option agreement to acquire substantial mineral claims related to a large prospective gold mine.
• Served as general counsel to one of Oregon’s largest irrigation districts, providing general advice and litigation counsel on water law, land use, and public governance issues.

Class action lawsuits

• Defended a chain of retail outlets from unfair trade practices class action and obtained settlement on favorable terms.

Corporate disputes

• Obtained a $1.7 million judgment after a lengthy trial in an architecture malpractice case.
• Obtained several injunctions in theft of trade secret and breach of fiduciary duty cases involving theft by former employees and/or business partners.

Employment law

• Successfully defended employers in a wide range of actions, including a whistleblower action filed by former employees, a wrongful death and excessive force claim stemming from an arrest by a public safety officer, and wrongful discharge and overtime claims filed by former employees.
• Obtained one of Alaska’s largest jury verdicts in history in a whistleblower retaliation case.

Torts

• Defended a school district in a $30 million brain injury claim.
• Obtained a directed verdict for the city of Seward, Alaska, in a personal injury case.
• Obtained a summary judgment for several police departments in a wrongful death and injury claim arising from police practices.
• Won a directed verdict after a trial in a First Amendment retaliation case against a public employer.

Election law

• Successfully challenged in the Alaska Supreme Court a local ballot initiative that sought to preclude new resource development projects in a large region of southwest Alaska.
• Challenged the Lieutenant Governor in court for refusing to certify a fish conservation ballot initiative.
• Obtained summary judgment striking a version of a ballot initiative that threatened to prevent all new mining in Alaska.
• Successfully defended numerous campaigns before the Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC), and investigated and prosecuted an APOC complaint about campaign misconduct that resulted in the largest settlement in state history.