Steve A. Matthews

Practice Areas

Administrative & Regulatory Law

Appellate Proceedings

Business Litigation

Corporate

Intellectual Property & Litigation

Mediation

State & Local Governments

Career

Steve Matthews focuses on achieving resolutions – whether by negotiation or litigation – of the more complex issues arising in a wide range of legal fields that involve mission critical aspects of his client’s businesses. He is experienced in transactional negotiation and documentation, as well as trial and appellate advocacy, involving intellectual property, constitutional law, utility regulation, mergers and acquisitions, privacy and data security, governmental structures and powers, administrative procedures, corporate governance, securities regulation, trade regulation and advertising, corporate and government finance, healthcare, land use and taxation.

He has served clients from an equally broad range of industries, including manufacturing, telecommunications, energy, financial institutions, information technology, digital media and advertising, government, education and real estate.

Steve is a certified mediator for civil court actions in South Carolina and has been called upon to facilitate the resolution of matters involving the valuation of property for tax purposes, personal injury, corporate minority shareholder oppression and environmental torts.

Professional Memberships

Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, member of the National Board of Visitors and former state chapter President

South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, member of the Small Business Council and Legal Affairs Committee, and former Board Member

South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics Foundation, former Board Member and Chairman

John Belton O'Neall Inn of Court, former Board Member and President

National Association of Bond Lawyers, former Officer and Board Member

American College of Bond Counsel, Founding Member, former Board Member and Officer

Atlantic Legal Foundation, former Board Member and Officer

American Intellectual Property Law Association

Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, former state chapter President

South Carolina Bar, former House of Delegates Member

Governor’s South Carolina Education Reform Council, Chair (2006-2007)

Personal

Before joining Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, Steve practiced corporate law with the Wall Street firm Dewey Ballantine in its Washington office and served in the U.S. Department of Justice during President Reagan’s second term. At Justice, he advised Attorney General Edwin Meese III and the White House on the selection of nominees for federal judgeships and served as Special Counsel to Attorney General Meese on the Iran-Contra investigation.

Education

Experience

• Defended international consumer electronics manufacturers against claims of patent infringement in telecommunications devices and wearable technology

• Defended marine engine manufacturer against claims of patent infringement

• Defended sporting goods manufacturers against claims of trademark infringement

• Represented plaintiff nutritional supplements manufacturer in claims for infringement of its patents

• Defended private foundation against claims by a university and a literary executor related to the ownership, copyright, and fair use of original manuscript materials of a major American novelist

• Defended real estate developers against claims by nationally-marketed building designers of architectural-plan copyright infringement

• Defended owner and executive of on-line marketing company against charges brought by Federal Trade Commission

• Assisted businesswoman in recovery of assets seized by Homeland Security in course of international travel

• Advised hospitality industry businesses regarding obligations arising out of electronic breaches of their customers' personal data

• Defended broker-dealer firms in FINRA proceedings against claims by investors of culpable participation in fraudulent securities offering

• Represented retirement fund seeking to recover assets stolen from it in the course of a criminal securities fraud

• Represented local government in investigation by U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Treasury concerning False Claims Act and related matters

• Represented property owners and taxing authorities in appeals of the valuation of taxable commercial and industrial property

• Represented global medical device manufacturer against former employee for theft of trade secrets

• Represented state and local government agencies in cases related to the allocation of powers among various levels of government and the extent of those powers

• Represented securities issuers, underwriters, and trustees in corporate and governmental securities offerings

• Drafted, at the request of the South Carolina Governor and General Assembly, legislation creating novel methods of financing economic development initiatives, including State general obligation economic development bonds, State litigation-settlement securitization bonds, and local government special source revenue bonds

• Conceived and drafted, as chairman of a Governor's task force on education, a blueprint for an equitable revision of K-12 education finance and a state-wide, technology-based leveraging of resources to overcome geography-based limitations on student opportunities

• Negotiated and documented complex, multi-party joint venture utility agreements with regard to both construction cost allocation and operational/administrative functions; most of which in water-and-sewer field or natural gas long-term supply arrangement for public entities (with some private players)

• Advised public entities on interpretation of financial aspects of pre-existing nuclear energy joint venture that was a public-private arrangement

• Established and advised on the performance of non-utility joint ventures (primarily in the negotiation of the IP aspects of those arrangements)

• Represented major global telecommunications carrier, primarily related to antitrust economics, in regulatory proceedings for establishing cooperative activity among regulated utilities (co-location arrangements, unbundling, etc.) in the telecom field

• Represented issuer of utility cryptocurrency tokens in investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the South Carolina Securities Commissioner

Awards

Expert in these Jurisdictions

District of Columbia

South Carolina