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Matthew Gately has been certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Civil Trial Attorney. He has tried cases in state and federal courts, as well as in private arbitration. Matt primarily handles complex commercial/contractual disputes and class/collective actions. His class action practice is particularly broad, as he has represented both putative class representative plaintiffs and corporate defendants in cases involving, among other things, securities fraud, ERISA, consumer fraud, and federal and state wage/hour laws. He also has represented direct purchasers in several "reverse-payment" antitrust class actions. 

Additionally, Matt has represented clients in personal injury and malpractice cases, investor litigation/arbitration, partnership and other intra-business disputes, and employment discrimination matters. He has also provided counsel to New Jersey state agencies in environmental cost-recovery litigations.     

Having clerked for two federal judges and both written and presented on issues of federal practice, Matt often serves as local counsel for out-of-state firms litigating in the District of New Jersey. He currently serves as a Trustee of the Association of the Federal Bar of New Jersey.    

Prior to joining Cohn Lifland, Matt was senior law clerk to the Hon. Madeline Cox Arleo, U.S.D.J., D.N.J., law clerk to the Hon. Michael A. Hammer, U.S.M.J., D.N.J., and worked for several years in the commercial litigation group of an AmLaw 100 law firm.

Matt graduated from Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and member of the Columbia Business Law Review. He received his B.A. (in three years), magna cum laude, from Lafayette College with a double major in Government & Law and Philosophy.

  • Bergen County Bar Association, "Civil Motion Practicein in Federal Court: Tips from the Bench," Moderator, November 2, 2022 
  • Bergen County Bar Association, “Federal Civil Litigation: Tips from the Bench,” Moderator, February 4, 2021
  • Bergen County Bar Association, “Practicing in Federal Court: Tips from the Bench,” Moderator, October 12, 2017
  • Return of State Court “Statutory’ Class Actions: the True Legacy of Spokeo v. Robins, 223 N.J.L.J. 1962 (analyzing Article III’s standing requirement)
  • Note, Much Ado About Nothing: An Analysis of the “Accredited Natural Person” Standard, 2008 Colum.Bus.L.Rev. 760 (addressing proposed hedge fund regulations)
  • Bergen County Bar Association, Federal Practice Committee, Co-Chair
  • Trustee, Association of the Federal Bar of New Jersey
  • Historical Society for the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
  • New Jersey State Bar Association, Federal Practice & Procedure Section
  • AV® rated, the highest rating conferred by Martindale-Hubbell® for legal ability and professional ethics, based upon a peer review of the Bar and the Judiciary*
  • Second Associate Fellow of Litigation Counsel of America in New Jersey*
  • The New Jersey Law Journal, “New Leader of the Bar”*
  • Selected to the “Ones to Watch” by Best Lawyers in America (2020-2024) 
  • Selected to the list of New Jersey Super Lawyers Rising Stars, 2017-2023, in Class Actions & Mass Torts.  This award is conferred by Thomson Reuters*

*No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. A description of the selection methodology can be found here.