Biography

Matt Moffett is a civil litigation defense attorney of 22 years, handling cases in both state and federal courts. His legal ability is rated “AV”, as published in Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest rating afforded to lawyers by their peers. He is listed among the Georgia Super Lawyers in Atlanta Magazine, most recently as one of the top 100 lawyers in Georgia, and among the Legal Elite in Georgia Trend magazine.

As panel counsel for many national insurers and third party administrators, Mr. Moffett is regularly called upon to evaluate and negotiate pending claims and to defend cases having significant damages exposure. Over the last two years, he has tried eight major cases to successful verdicts for his clients.  Four of these cases involved contended wrongful death where each plaintiff’s attorney asked the jury to award between $4 million and $5 million dollars in damages.  Another case involved an employment action wherein Mr. Moffett attained a defense verdict for a religious institution sued for over a million dollars in damages.  In 2010, Mr. Moffett argued and prevailed before the Georgia Supreme Court in a serious injury case involving qualified immunity of a government employee and in 2011 argued and prevailed before the Georgia Court of Appeals in a negligent security, wrongful death case.

Mr. Moffett’s civil litigation defense practice involves:

• Property and Casualty claims (defense of serious injury and wrongful death claims in premises liability, products liability, auto and motor carrier cases)
• Multi-District Litigation (defense of toxic tort claims)
• Employment Practices Litigation (defense of public and private employers)
• Education Law (defense of public school systems and independent schools)
• Insurance coverage (declaratory judgment actions and defense of first party claims)
• Insurance subrogation (product failure, fire loss, water intrusion)
• Professional Liability (errors and omissions defense).

A representative listing of the appellate cases handled by Mr. Moffett at the state and federal level is found below under Representative Appellate Cases.

Born and raised in Atlanta, Mr. Moffett stayed in Georgia for college and law school. He attended and majored in journalism at the University of Georgia, where he graduated cum laude. He then attended Emory School of Law, where his father also had attended and graduated.

While at Emory School of Law, Mr. Moffett was selected to become a part of the Emory Moot Court Society. Representing his law school, he then competed in the Georgia Intrastate Moot Court Competition where he was selected as the Best Advocate. From there he competed for Emory regionally and nationally in the National Moot Court Competition, again being selected as the Best Advocate and helping Emory win the national championship. Emory subsequently named him the outstanding member of the Moot Court Society. Thereafter, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers recognized him with their Litigation Award, and he was selected into membership in the Order of the Barristers.

During the early years of his private law practice, Emory asked Mr. Moffett to return annually as an Adjunct Professor of Law and teach by lecture and demonstration on effective appellate advocacy. When a West Publishing affiliate learned about his teaching at Emory, they asked Mr. Moffett to create an audiotape program on appellate advocacy, which continues in circulation under the title “Moot Court Success” (Sum & Substance).

This commitment to teaching has always been important to Mr. Moffett, who regularly presents on relevant legal issues and developments to his clients and his lawyer peers. During 2010, he was a featured speaker at the annual seminar of the Georgia Defense Lawyers Association, the annual Insurance Law Institute and the annual Premises Liability Seminar of the State Bar of Georgia. In 2011, Mr. Moffett presented “Persuasive Use of Technology in the Courtroom” at the annual meeting of the Defense Research Institute in Washington, D.C., and “Trying the Un-winnable Case” at the Renaissance Symposium IV of the Litigation Counsel of America in New York City. In 2012, Mr. Moffett instructed at the Trial Academy of the Georgia Defense Lawyers Association and presented for the State Bar of Georgia on “Defense of a Personal Injury Case.”

Mr. Moffett is a Charter Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, an invitation only, honorary society representing less than one half of one percent of American lawyers for effectiveness and accomplishment in litigation and trial work, along with ethical reputation. He also was selected as a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, an organization recognizing lawyers for skill, civility and integrity.

Mr. Moffett is vice president and a member of the board of directors for the Georgia Defense Lawyers Association, which is dedicated to enhance the knowledge and improve the skills of defense lawyers. He is a former board member of the Atlanta Claims Association, and a member of the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance, which is comprised of risk managers, claims managers and adjusters, general counsel, insurance company executives, attorneys, brokers and service providers dedicated to the principles and practices of litigation management. His other memberships are with the Atlanta Bar Association, State Bar of Georgia, Defense Research Institute and Lawyer’s Club of Atlanta.

Mr. Moffett is a Lifetime Fellow of the Atlanta Bar Foundation, which supports public service projects that assist youth, provide pro bono legal services, and promote higher education through scholarships. He previously served on the board of directors of Global Health Action, a non-profit organization addressing the world’s most pressing health problems, and also on the board of directors for the Silver Lake Civic Association, which manages the preservation of two lakes and a multi acre wilderness area in metro Atlanta.

Matt is married to his high school sweetheart Diane, and they have two daughters, Kate and Megan, who attend Marist School and St. Martin’s Episcopal School, respectively, with Matt serving as a trustee at St. Martin’s. The family attends Peachtree Road United Methodist Church, where Matt has chaired the Administrative Board and now teaches in the adult education program. The family enjoys traveling with their church to Nicaragua after Christmas to build homes in partnership with local organizations in ministry to provide humanitarian and spiritual aid.