Mr. Matz is highly experienced in all phases of litigation, from the earliest stages of civil and criminal investigations, through the filing of complaints and indictments, pre-trial motion practice, trials, and appeals, including to the Supreme Court of the United States. He represents individuals and companies as plaintiffs, defendants, and witnesses in sophisticated, high-stakes matters.
In civil litigation, corporate clients praise Mr. Matz for his ability to “handle the matter brilliantly. No matter what was thrown at him, Jeremy understood the issues swiftly, led the way through the land mines of the investigation, and gave us excellent legal and strategic advice. It has been an absolute pleasure working with him — a more responsive, intelligent and skilled lawyer one could not hope to have by your side.”
In criminal cases, clients appreciate Mr. Matz’s “knowledge, guidance and advice, which have brought much needed peace of mind and a greater understanding of how best to approach the various scenarios which could arise.” He is lauded for being “not only a great and competent attorney, but also a great human being. I could not have asked for a better person to guide me through this difficult time of my life.”
Before joining Bird Marella, Mr. Matz served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Los Angeles for thirteen years. At the United States Attorney’s Office, he prosecuted nearly every kind of federal criminal case, including white collar offenses, money laundering, corruption, violent crime, and cybercrime. For more than eleven years, he specialized in prosecuting sophisticated economic crimes, including securities and corporate fraud, mortgage fraud, health care fraud, tax evasion, bank fraud, and investor fraud. As the lead trial and appellate attorney, he won convictions in more than ten jury trials and briefed and argued multiple cases in the Court of Appeals, resulting in favorable published appellate decisions. Mr. Matz garnered praise from fellow prosecutors as “one of the most meticulous attorneys to work in the office”, “a first-rate lawyer with excellent judgment”, and a “very strategic and very thorough attorney on every case.” He served as the Securities Fraud Coordinator, supervised new prosecutors, and won awards from several federal law enforcement agencies.
Mr. Matz also serves as a Lecturer In Law at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, where he teaches evidence to second- and third-year law students. He is acclaimed for his “exceptional knowledge of the rules of evidence” and for “bringing the real world to the classroom.”
Mr. Matz speaks fluent Portuguese and has given presentations on criminal law to judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement officials in Brazil and Mozambique.
Mr. Matz maintains a diverse and successful law practice. He resolves many of his clients’ civil and criminal disputes in a confidential and private manner.
In September 2016, Mr. Matz won a sentence of straight probation for a client in a federal criminal case involving gratuities paid to a public official. Under the plea agreement, Mr. Matz’s client faced up to five years of imprisonment.
In July 2016, Mr. Matz won a highly favorable settlement of a United States Department of Justice investigation of a corporate client under the federal False Claims Act, for less than 4% of the government’s claimed damages.
In May 2014, Mr. Matz won a total dismissal of a criminal prosecution against his client after less than half a day of jury trial. Mr. Matz discovered highly exculpatory evidence that completely undermined the prosecution’s case. After he delivered the opening statement and cross-examined the first and only prosecution witness, the prosecution abandoned the case entirely.
In a seven-week federal trial in 2013, Mr. Matz and other Bird Marella trial attorneys defended one of the nation’s largest manufacturers against allegations of False Claims Act violations. Mr. Matz presented numerous defense witnesses, cross-examined key plaintiffs’ witnesses, and briefed and argued numerous evidentiary motions
In one of the largest mortgage fraud cases in California history, Mr. Matz secured the convictions of eleven defendants, including nationally prominent real estate agents. After a six-week jury trial, the Court of Appeals affirmed the convictions of a real estate agent and an appraiser on fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy charges. United States v. Grasso, 724 F.3d 1077 (9th Cir. 2013); United States v. Rizk, 660 F.3d 1125 (9th Cir. 2011).
In a corporate fraud prosecution spearheaded by Mr. Matz and others, Ralphs Grocery Company — one of the largest grocery chains in the nation — pleaded guilty and paid a total of $70 million in restitution and fines for felonies committed during a labor dispute.
Mr. Matz was a key prosecutor in a covert securities fraud wiretap investigation that led to the indictments of fifteen defendants in a multi-million dollar “pump-and-dump” scheme.
Mr. Matz won a guilty plea to securities and investor fraud from the founder and CEO of a NASDAQ-listed media company with a $100 million market capitalization.
Mr. Matz and a colleague won a jury trial against a licensed medical doctor in a $1 million fraudulent Medicare billing scheme.
As the lead trial attorney, Mr. Matz won a four-week jury trial in a sophisticated bank fraud, false identity, and money laundering conspiracy. Two spouses were convicted on all counts in a scheme to defraud banks of millions of dollars and launder the money into high-end luxury homes.
In the aftermath of a $26 million international Ponzi scheme, Mr. Matz secured guilty pleas to fraud and money laundering from a defendant who defrauded hundreds of investors out of their life savings.
Bird Marella is proud to recognize the attorneys who have been selected for inclusion in the 2019 Southern California Super Lawyers list: Terry W. Bird – Criminal Defense: White Collar, Business Litigation, Civil Litigation Joel E. Boxer – Business Litigation, Estate & Trust Litigation Paul S. Chan – Business Litigation, ...
14 Bird Marella principals have been recognized and selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2019 edition of Best Lawyers in America. Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which more than 50,000 leading attorneys cast nearly 5 million votes on the legal abilities of other ...
In a major high-impact pro bono case, Principal Jeremy Matz and attorneys from several pro bono legal firms won a victory for low-income tenants displaced from residential motels by municipal action in the City of Costa Mesa. The City and a local developer agreed to pay millions ...
Bird Marella congratulates Thomas Reichert and Ariel Neuman as Southern California Super Lawyers. In total, 14 Bird Marella attorneys were selected as Super Lawyers for 2018: Terry W. Bird – Criminal Defense: White Collar, Business Litigation, Civil Litigation (Top 100) Sharon Ben-Shahar Mayer – Business Litigation, Criminal ...
U.S. News – Best Lawyers® has ranked Bird Marella among the 2018 “Best Law Firms” in Los Angeles with a Tier 1 ranking in the practice areas of White Collar Criminal Defense, Commercial Litigation, and Trust & Estates. The firm also achieved a Tier 3 ranking in Environmental Law. The U.S. ...
A legal brief signed by Bird Marella Principal Jeremy Matz recently was quoted in an article by The Hollywood Reporter on the 1Malaysia Development Berhad forfeiture cases. The 1MDB forefeiture cases is the largest civil forfeiture litigation that has ever been brought by the United States Department of Justice's Kleptocracy Asset ...
