Matthew Nis Leerberg

Practice Areas

Matt is Co-Chair of the firm’s Appellate Practice Group and leads a national team that serves clients before the U.S. Supreme Court, every federal circuit court and the state appellate courts.

Widely recognized for his work as a litigator and strategist, Matt is often hired to handle appeals in cases that met with unfavorable results in the lower courts. He centers his practice on helping businesses navigate complex state and federal litigation and appeals, including bet-the-company and other high-stakes litigation.

Matt co-authored a comprehensive legal treatise, North Carolina Appellate Practice and Procedure, that discusses in depth the constitutional provisions, statutes, rules, cases and customs governing North Carolina appellate law. He is a Board Certified Specialist in Appellate Practice by the North Carolina State Bar. In 2022, Matt was one of only four lawyers ranked in Band 1 by Chambers & Partners for Appellate Litigation in North Carolina. He was also inducted into Business North Carolina magazine’s Legal Elite “Hall of Fame” for appellate practice.

Matt’s clients range from large health systems and private equity firms to small businesses and individuals.

He regularly helps clients with:

- Federal and state appeals

- Class-action defense

- Bet-the-company litigation

- Trade secret and noncompete disputes

- Federal civil rights claims

- Contract litigation

Businesses facing litigation in North Carolina for the first time often look for a legal team with an established reputation and comprehensive knowledge of local customs and practices. Matt takes the time to listen to a client’s overall business and litigation goals, and then builds the right team to advance a strategic plan to meet those goals. Cases and appeals are won or lost on those careful, strategic decisions, in conjunction with excellent persuasive writing and oral advocacy.

Clients value Matt’s business sense and his ability to translate complex legal issues. In fact, Matt is often hired by lawyers in other firms to provide strategic guidance or to represent them in complex litigation where the firms themselves are parties.

Matt regularly appears on behalf of clients in North Carolina's specialized Business Court and served on that court’s inaugural Rules Advisory Committee.

Matt previously served as Managing Partner of the Raleigh Office and on Fox Rothschild’s Executive Committee.

Matt is a founder and regular writer for the North Carolina Appellate Practice Blog, NCAPB.com, which provides news, information, tips and resources for practicing law in North Carolina's state and federal appellate courts.

Career

Matt served on the Management Committee, was the Partner-in-Charge of the Raleigh office, and head of the Appellate practice group at Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP, which combined with Fox Rothschild in 2018.

Immediately after law school, Matt served as a law clerk for two years for Judge Allyson Kay Duncan on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Professional Memberships

North Carolina Bar Association (Chair Emeritus, Appellate Practice Section; Vice Chair, Appellate Rules Committee)

Work Highlights

Matt’s experience includes:

- Successfully defending prominent law firms against class-action lawsuits seeking billions of dollars for alleged violations of federal privacy statutes

- Successfully defending prominent hospital systems in multimillion-dollar class action litigation challenging billing practices

- Obtaining reversal of a $5.5 million jury verdict for pain and suffering in a medical-malpractice appeal

- Representing a member of a Board of Directors in the first N.C. Securities Act case to reach the North Carolina Supreme Court in 35 years

- Obtaining three North Carolina Court of Appeals opinions reversing and reinstating class-action and breach-of-fiduciary-duty claims arising out of alleged fraud of a company insider

- Securing reversal in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals of a dismissal in a software-licensing contract dispute

- Obtaining reversal in the North Carolina Court of Appeals of a dismissal in a multimillion-dollar health care contracting dispute

- Obtaining a defense decision and multimillion-dollar award on the client’s counterclaims in an arbitration of a contract dispute

Expert in these Jurisdictions

Bar Admission: North Carolina

Education