Matthew C. Brown
Matt has been married to his wife Toni for over 30 years and they have two sons. Toni is a celebrity photographer and currently works for a national photography company. Their oldest son, Matthew J. Brown, is a partner at the firm. His youngest son, Danny, is a college student that also works as a legal assistant at the firm.
While in law school, Matt worked as a student intern for Justice Patricia Boyle of the Michigan Supreme Court (now retired). To this day, Matt values the knowledge and experience gained from working with Justice Boyle and learning first hand how cases of great importance in this state are analyzed and decided.
After graduation, Matt was employed as a corporate attorney for Elias Brothers Big Boy Restaurants, Inc. As a corporate attorney, he learned the important nuances in representing a large company. Matt was the employment attorney for the corporation and represented the company in all employment related matters including wrongful discharge, sexual harassment, race and sex discrimination and unemployment matters. Matt drafted the Company’s Employment Relations Manual that was utilized by company management. He also conducted several management seminars and provided training in employee relations. In addition to his employment responsibilities, he also drafted and implemented the Company’s Construction Law Manual to guide the Company’s construction department. Matt also managed the Company’s numerous leases, both representing the company as a landlord and as a tenant. In addition, Matt handled numerous commercial transactions such as sales of businesses, real estate, including the drafting of the transactional documents, negotiating and drafting contracts for franchising, sales, equipment leasing and numerous other transactions. Lastly, as a corporate attorney, Matt defended liability claims arising from accidents, slip and falls and successfully recovered in a lawsuit involving a large fire claim.
After leaving Big Boy’s corporate legal department, Matt worked as an elder law specialist for Lakeshore Legal Services, Inc., a non-profit government funded agency. Matt represented persons 60 years of age and older. Matt gained an invaluable insight into the many unique legal problems facing older persons. During his tenure and for 20 years since he has since litigated many issues in the protection of older persons. Matt has also been very active in estate planning including the drafting of wills, trusts, powers of attorney, patient advocates, deeds and related documents.
After leaving Lakeshore, Matt has maintained a private practice in the Rochester and Bloomfield Hills areas for over 20 years. Matt has served as President of the Rochester Bar Association in 2000.
He has a successful trial record having tried civil jury trials, felony jury trials, bench trials, administrative hearings before the state of Michigan in the Wage and Hour Division, the Liquor Control Division, the Secretary of State and before the professional licensing division. In addition to formal trials, he has also handled private arbitration and mediation of cases in Michigan and Washington D.C.
Matt has obtained non-guilty verdicts in felonies and misdemeanor cases. He has obtained large verdicts in civil cases and “no cause” verdicts defending civil cases. He takes great pride in his trial skills and the art of persuasion.