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Matthew G. Pletcher

Of Counsel
  • Profile
  • Credentials
  • Representative Experience
  • Practice Areas

Matt handles high exposure cases involving professional liability, premises liability, catastrophic personal injuries, and wrongful death. He has also handled cases involving pharmaceutical products liability, first party insurance and bad faith claims, and complex commercial and business disputes.

Matt’s professional liability experience includes medical, legal, and architectural malpractice cases. He has handled a broad range of legal malpractice cases involving issues such as negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, professional misconduct, conflicts of interest, and barratry. He has also handled medical and legal credentialing, discipline, and grievance proceedings.

His experience handling personal injury and wrongful death cases has included claims involving birth injuries, neurologic injuries, drowning injuries and deaths, mechanical asphyxiations, fires and explosions, burns, lightning strikes, automobile, trucking, and aviation accidents, highway and building construction accidents, oil field accidents, industrial accidents, sexual assault and abuse, elder and children abuse, and non-subscriber liability.

Matt’s commercial and business litigation experience includes cases involving breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, breach of contract, tortious interference, civil conspiracy, securities fraud, and conversion. Matt has attained an AV® Preeminent™ peer-review rating from Martindale-Hubbell, signifying the highest level of professional excellence based upon peer review evaluation from lawyers and judges who have observed Matt’s legal skill and ethical standards.

Educational Background

  • South Texas College of Law, J.D., 1987
  • Pepperdine University, B.S., Business Administration, 1984

Admissions

  • State Bar of Texas
  • State Bar of New Mexico
  • U.S. District Court – Northern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Court – Southern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Court – Eastern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Court – Western District of Texas
  • Pro hac vice admission in multiple states with local counsel sponsorship

Honors

  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating
  • American Board of Trial Advocates – Nomination for Membership
  • Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel – Nomination for Membership

Publications and Presentations

  • “The Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act & Financial Services Claims”, Orange, California, Presentation – June 3, 2010
  • “Tort Reform in Texas”, New York City, New York, Presentation – March 7, 2008
  • “Tort Reform in Texas”, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, Presentation – April 3, 2007
  • “Underwriting and Claims Handling After House Bill 4”, Jersey City, New Jersey, Seminar – November 30, 2006
  • “A Brave New World”, Houston, Texas, Presentation – April 15, 2004
  • “A Review of Tort Reform’s Impact on Malpractice Premiums: Is it the Answer?” Group Practice Journal, Publication – April 2004
  • “Anatomy of a Lawsuit – Avoiding the Inevitable”, Century Healthcare of Texas, Inc. DBA Champions Treatment Center, Houston, Texas, Presentation – December 12, 1995
  • “Cross-Examination by Exception to the Rules”, Texas Association of Defense Counsel, TADC Rookie Seminar, Houston, Texas, 1994
  • “Managed Care Liability in the 90’s: What’s on First? No, Who’s on First, What’s on Second, I Don’t Know Who’s on Third”, Houston, Texas, Presentation – 1994
  • “What You Need to Know to Evaluate a Nonsubscriber Workers’ Compensation Case,” Texas Personal Injury Law Reporter, Publication -1993
  • “The New Workers’ Compensation Act: A Nuts-and-Bolts Approach,” State Bar Of Texas, Professional Development Program, Austin, Texas, Seminar – May 1991

Memberships

  • American Bar Association
  • Houston Bar Association
  • Texas Association of Defense Counsel
  • Greater Houston Society of Healthcare Risk Managers
  • Successful defense of one of Texas’ largest medical schools and its individual faculty members and tenured/associate professors in complex medical negligence death and catastrophic injury litigation including many birth asphyxia and brain damage cases
  • Favorable verdict for a prominent Houston plaintiffs’ personal injury firm in two-month legal malpractice trial
  • Successful representation of an energy service company in neurologic/brain injury case involving a lightning strike at a wellhead. Injury occurred in Louisiana and case was tried in McKinney, Texas under Louisiana law
  • Successful representation and settlement for energy service company in closed head injury/brain injury case pending in North Dakota federal court
  • Defense verdict for a nephrologist in wrongful death case involving chronic dialysis patient who went without dialysis for over two weeks
  • Successful representation and confidential settlement for parents of a child who drowned in a country club swimming pool during summer camp
  • Successful defense for multiple companies and individuals in commercial litigation involving claims of breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, conspiracy, conversion, and tortious interference of business relationships
  • Defense of major pharmaceutical corporation in litigation throughout Texas including primary responsibility for handling all aspects of medical expert discovery which included retention of defense medical experts, handling of expert challenges and other pretrial conferences and hearings
  • Successful defense of prominent plastic surgeon in litigation involving breast reconstruction surgeries and multiple revision surgeries and post-operative infections
  • Defense of several nursing homes in litigation involving claims of nursing and medical negligence, as well as claims of elder abuse and injury
Practice Areas