Matt Catalano is a shareholder in the Litigation Section of Cotton, Bledsoe, Tighe & Dawson's Midland office and is a member of the Firm's Employment Law Litigation Group. His practice primarily consists of General Commercial Litigation, Employment Litigation, and Personal Injury/Insurance Defense/MedMal Litigation. Matt is a member of both the State Bar of Texas and the State Bar of New Mexico and is admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Western District and Northern District of Texas. He is a past Vice-President of the Midland County Young Lawyers Association and is a member of the Midland County Bar Association, the Texas Association of Defense Counsel and the Labor and Employment Law Section of the State Bar of Texas.

AREAS OF CONCENTRATION

Commercial Litigation

The largest part of Matt's practice involves successfully representing a wide variety of businesses, both as plaintiffs and defendants, in commercial litigation. Matt has successfully represented clients on breach of contract lawsuits, partnership and corporate/shareholder disputes, collection matters, products liability, and commercial tort/DTPA lawsuits and has tried several of these matters to juries, resulting in favorable verdicts for the Firm's clients.

Labor and Employment Litigation

Matt is developing expertise in resolving private and public employment disputes, principally through representation of employers. He represents clients before the EEOC, as well as in federal and state courts. Matt litigates claims arising under Title VII, ADEA, FLSA, ADA, and common law causes of action which generally arise in the workplace. He defends employers on claims alleging invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, breach of fiduciary duty, interference with contractual relations, and numerous other causes of action arising out of the employment relationship.

In addition, Matt drafts and negotiates employment contracts, severance agreements, non-compete covenants, confidentiality agreements, and other contractual matters arising in the employment context.

Personal Injury/Insurance Defense/MedMal Defense

Matt also devotes a large part of his practice to defending clients who have been sued in cases involving personal injuries, such as oil field injuries, on the job accidents, and automobile or trucking accidents. Matt represents several mid to large-sized insurance companies and their insureds in all aspects of personal injury lawsuits including claims investigation, pretrial discovery, and trial representation. He has also successfully defended many physicians and medical entities in medical malpractice lawsuits, both in the pretrial discovery phase of the lawsuit and at trial. Matt has received multiple favorable jury verdicts on personal injury matters.

EDUCATION

• B.A., Government, University of Texas at Austin, 1995
• J.D., University of Texas at Austin School of Law, 1998

While serving in the United States Air Force as a Russian Cryptologic Linguist, Matt received an Associates Degree in Instructional Technology from the Community College of the Air Force. He also completed an intensive one-year Russian language course at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California.

Matt received his Bachelor of Arts degree, with honors, in government from the University of Texas at Austin in 1995. He received his Juris Doctor from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law in 1998. While in law school, Matt was a member of the American Journal of Criminal Law.