“Matt” brings more than 30 years of experience in civil trial, appellate and workers’ compensation practice to Litchfield Cavo LLP’s Hartford-area office. His record includes successfully litigating cases in arbitration, in the Connecticut trial courts before both judges and juries, as well as the Connecticut Appellate and Supreme courts.
Matt’s distinctive career includes having worked in-house for two major insurance companies where he handled personal injury jury cases for a variety of unique claims. While in this field, he represented Fortune 500 companies during hearings at the Connecticut Worker’s Compensation Commission.
In addition to his legal practice, Matt has authored articles for the Connecticut Bar Association’s Workers’ Compensation Section, and has moderated both live and remote seminars on workers’ compensation law, fraud detection and prevention, as well as disability and discrimination law. He is a former elected member of the Wethersfield Board of Education, previously served as a justice of the peace for the Town of Wethersfield, and was a commissioner on the Wethersfield Zoning Board of Appeals. Moreover, Matt was a past president of Wethersfield Chapter of Unico National, an Italian-American service organization.
Practices
- Successfully defended client in Appellate Court against a Plaintiff in a motor vehicle accident claim; the Plaintiff appealed a 61 percent reduction of her underinsured motorist arbitration award by the trial court, and the Appellate Court rejected the Plaintiff’s claim that the reduction was in violation of the agreement to arbitrate, and agreed with the Defendant that the reduction for money received from the other driver’s insurance company was consistent with the arbitration agreement.
- Successfully defended a municipality against the Plaintiff’s appeal from a Workers’ Compensation Commissioner’s denial of sanctions against the Town for “unreasonably contesting” and/or “unduly delaying benefits”; the Workers’ Compensation Review Board agreed that the imposition of sanctions was not mandatory and thus the Trial Commissioner had the discretion to award or deny sanctions.
- Successfully defended a municipality against the Plaintiff’s appeal from a Workers’ Compensation Commissioner’s denial of sanctions against the Town for “unreasonably contesting” and/or “unduly delaying benefits”; the Workers’ Compensation Review Board agreed with the defense and affirmed the Trial Commissioner’s determination that the Town was not obligated to begin payments within 20 days of issuing a voluntary agreement for compensation because the scope and terms of the agreement had not yet been worked out and, therefore, the matter was not unduly delayed.
Education
- Cornell Law School, JD, 1988
- Moot Court Board, Member
- Moot Court Competition, Competitor
- Moot Court Competition, Judge
- Georgetown University, BS, Mathematics, 1985
- Scholastic Tutor: Math and English as a Second Language
Admissions
- Connecticut
Languages
- English
Presentations/Publications
- Presenter, “Proactive Strategies to Manage Pre-existing Injuries and Repeat Claimants While Avoiding Legal Landmines,” Council on Education in Management
- Presenter, “Successful and Legally Compliant Return-to-Work and Light Duty Program that is a Win-Win for Employers and Injured Workers,” Council on Education in Management
- Moderator, “Avoiding ADA, FMLA, and Workers’ Compensation Overlap,” Council on Education in Management