Matthew A. Boyd
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Matt Boyd defends and advises clients across the entire spectrum of traditional labor and employment law, as well as in matters ranging from day-to-day operational issues to complex commercial disputes.
Matt’s practice focuses on representing companies in complex litigation and providing strategic advice on corporate and compliance issues to business leaders and in-house legal departments across the country. A skilled litigator, Matt defends companies of every size in high-stakes class actions, collective actions, multi-plaintiff litigation, and arbitrations. He has handled hundreds of cases in his career, including more than 30 class- or representative-action cases, and has tried multiple employment and/or commercial cases to verdict. While he is well versed in virtually all areas of labor and employment law, Matt devotes a significant portion of his nationwide practice to defending employers against wage-and-hour claims under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and similar state laws. He defends, advises, and trains employers on an assortment of state and federal employment-related matters, including discrimination claims, compliance with disability and family and medical leave laws, whistleblower and violation of public policy claims (including under the False Claims Act, Sarbanes-Oxley, and state whistleblower statutes), and employee privacy issues. He also trains and advises employers and their employees in an effort to proactively avoid costly employment disputes, including guiding employers through employee layoffs and other group employment terminations.
In addition to litigation, Matt has served as an adjunct or in a temporary in-house role for sophisticated in-house legal departments. He regularly advises clients on regulatory, labor, and legal compliance issues, drafts and negotiates employment and commercial contracts for businesses and senior executives, develops, updates, negotiates, and enforces employment agreements, restrictive covenants, and contractual provisions to protect trade secrets and confidential information, conducts internal investigations, and coordinates litigation and other outside counsel for clients. Clients appreciate Matt’s deep knowledge, experience, and broad understanding of a wide array of legal issues that businesses face. As part of that role, clients trust his judgment to conduct highly sensitive internal investigations involving senior employees accused of harassment, illegal activities, retaliation, and similar misconduct.
Matt also serves as outside general counsel for a number of clients. In that role, he represents them in commercial transactions and business acquisitions, negotiates commercial contracts, manages litigation, coordinates other outside counsel, and serves as their primary legal resource in a host of advisory, regulatory, operational, and compliance matters.
Outside of work, Matt plays guitar and sings in a local band. He lives on a farm with his wife Ashley and several horses, dogs, cats, and chickens. He is the president of the American Trakehner Association, Inc., a non-profit organization that promotes the Trakehner breed of horse in North America.
- Education
- Vanderbilt University Law School (J.D., 1996; Vanderbilt Law Review; Jessup International Moot Court Team; Vanderbilt Moot Court Board)
- Furman University (B.A., cum laude, 1993)
- State Admissions
- Georgia, 2000
- Tennessee, 1996
- Federal Admissions
- Supreme Court of Georgia
- Supreme Court of Illinois
- United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
- Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia
- United States District Court, Middle District of Georgia
- United States District Court, Northern District of Georgia
- United States District Court, Middle District of Tennessee
- Service Areas
- Labor & Employment
- Business Litigation
- Class Action Litigation
- Corporate Law
- Commercial Contracts
- Industries Represented
- Healthcare
- Transportation
- Motion Picture & Sound Recording
- Regularly defends a variety of companies on a nationwide basis in class and/or collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act and/or state wage and hour laws, including class and/or collective actions involving alleged employee misclassification, piece-rate issues, working “off the clock,” meal and rest break violations, and vacation pay issues
- Defended a national fast-food chain in a collective action against claims that its assistant store managers should have been treated as non-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act
- Advises local governments with respect to wage-and-hour compliance and compensatory time issues, including application of the FLSA to individuals in public safety roles
- Defended a Fortune-50 beverage company on a national basis against numerous single-plaintiff, multi-plaintiff, and class action claims under Title VII, 42 U.S.C. §1981; the Americans With Disabilities Act; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act; the Fair Labor Standards Act; and the Family and Medical Leave Act
- Defended a New York specialty pharmacy company against claims of religious and national-origin discrimination in one of the earliest discrimination/harassment cases brought by a Muslim employee following September 11, 2001
- Conducts internal investigations into alleged retaliation and wrongdoing by senior executives of publicly traded companies
- Enforced non-compete, non-solicitation, and confidentiality agreements against senior executives of three different publicly traded companies following the alleged theft of highly sensitive trade secrets
- Defended a prominent New York hedge fund against multimillion-dollar breach-of-contract claims brought by traders and analysts
- Drafts and negotiates CEO, CFO, and other senior executive employment agreements for public companies, large private companies, and professional and collegiate sports teams/programs
- Represented the athletic association of a major university with respect to the drafting and negotiation of all of its sports coaching contracts
- Represented a professional sports team in a highly publicized dispute with one of its premier players
- Represented a prominent college sports coach in a dispute over publicity rights brought against him by a national sports equipment manufacturer
Recent Trials/Appeals/Successes
Single Plaintiff Cases
- Obtained a defense verdict in a Mississippi defamation action in Lamar County Circuit Court
- Obtained summary judgment in favor of an employer in a breach-of-contract action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, which was upheld on appeal
- Obtained summary judgment and attorneys’ fees in favor of an employer in a Washington breach-of-contract action in King County Superior Court
Class Actions
- Settled FLSA wage-and-hour claims on an individual basis in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri
- Favorably settled FLSA wage-and-hour claims in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
- Favorably settled California wage-and-hour claims in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court
Speaking Engagements
- “Latest Trends and Issues Regarding Mediation and Settlement of Employment Litigation Claims,” Perrin Conferences, California Employment Law and Litigation Conference, Newport Beach, California (February 2024)
- “Davis-Bacon, FLSA, and Joint Employment Concerns,” Moderator, ALFA International, 2018 Construction Practice Group Seminar, Banff, Alberta, Canada (2018)
- “So Your Employee Has Been Accused of Assault – Now What?”, DRI, Sexual Torts Seminar, San Diego, California (November 2013)
- “Litigating Wage & Hour Class and Collective Actions: Innovative Strategies for Pre-Trial Investigation, ESI, and Discovery,” American Conference Institute, Forum on Wage & Hour Claims and Class Actions, San Francisco, California (September 2012)
Publications
- “Eleventh Circuit Review,” L&E News, Atlanta Bar Association (2005–2006)
- The Best Lawyers in America® (2024)
- State Bar of Georgia
- Labor & Employment and Appellate Practice Sections
- Atlanta Bar Association
- Labor & Employment Section, Former Governing Board Member
- Tennessee Bar Association
- Defense Research Institute
- Bleckley Inn of Court
- Lawyer’s Club of Atlanta
- American Trakehner Association, President
