Matthew Clarke

Matthew Clarke is a seasoned trial attorney, who has practiced civil litigation since 1996. He leads the firm’s litigation department. He has expertise in wrongful termination, lender liability, construction defect and complex civil litigation and has achieved more than $100 million in verdicts and settlements for his clients. Additionally, Mr. Clarke has defended his clients in a wide variety of civil disputes. Mr. Clarke has handled insurance “bad faith” and coverage disputes, construction defect (plaintiffs and defendants), business litigation, lender liability, intellectual property, product liability, and other complex litigation matters.

Mr. Clarke was previously a partner at Cappello & Noel, one of the nation’s foremost complex commercial litigation firms, in Santa Barbara, California.

Mr. Clarke’s longest trial lasted 11 months and resulted in a multi-million dollar judgment in a construction defect case. He has also tried cases for plaintiffs and defendants involving catastrophic injuries, wrongful death, legal malpractice, accounting malpractice, real estate transactions, investments and intellectual property. This includes a jury verdict of more than $40 million against defendants represented by a major international law firm and a wrongful death jury verdict of $16 million in compensatory damages and $2.3 in punitive damages.

Finally, Mr. Clarke has extensive experience advising and counseling businesses, large and small, in the full range of legal issues businesses regularly face. In this regard, the emphasis is always risk management and cost effective solutions to difficult problems.

In 2009 and in 2010, Mr. Clarke was selected a “Super Lawyer Rising Star” – recognized as one of the best attorneys under age 40. Mr. Clarke highly rated on attorney rating website AVVO.

Mr. Clarke has been an active member of the Santa Barbara County Bar Association and served for several years on the Executive Committee. He was a regular contributor to the Santa Barbara Lawyer Magazine, writing articles on various legal topics.