Matthew Shors
Partner
Matthew Shors is a partner in O’Melveny’s Washington, DC office. Matt focuses his practice on the defense of class actions, mass torts, and other aggregate proceedings, both at trial and on appeal. He has represented pharmaceutical manufacturers, energy companies, automobile manufacturers, transportation companies, health-care entities, insurance companies, and telecommunications companies in defending against hundreds of purported state, nationwide, and international class actions, as well as mass tort and other complex proceedings.
He is also active in the Firm’s Appellate and Supreme Court practice. He has argued before the Supreme Court and worked on more than 30 cases before the Supreme Court on behalf of Fortune 100 and other companies, industry and other non-profit associations, members of Congress, individuals, and a local governmental entity. Matt works extensively in other appellate courts, where he has assisted with successful efforts to overturn precedent-setting liability judgments, as well as substantial compensatory and punitive damage awards.
Matt is a frequent speaker on complex and appellate litigation topics. He has been an invited speaker before the American Bar Association, the American Conference Institute, the American Law Institute, the American Constitution Society, the Federalist Society, the American Insurance Association, the National Association of Consumer Credit Administrators, the Practicing Law Institute, and the American Financial Services Association, among others. Matt has also spoken at Harvard Law School, Northwestern Law School, Georgetown Law School, George Mason Law School, and George Washington Law School.
He also serves as Chair of the office’s Pro Bono Committee. On a pro bono basis, he has served as lead counsel in the US Supreme Court for groups such as the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for American Progress, the Sentencing Project, and the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund.
Matt is also active in the community. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Washington Lawyers Committee of Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, and the Young Professionals Leadership Board of the National Association of Urban Debate Leagues.
Illustrative Professional Experience
Class Action and Mass Tort Cases:
- In re Vioxx Products Liability Litigation
- In re Countrywide Sales Practices Litigation
- In re Radio Frequency Emissions Litigation
- In re National Security Agency Litigation
- In re Bridgestone/Firestone Tires Litigation
Appellate Cases:
- District of Columbia v. Heller
- Exxon Shipping Company v. Baker
- Ford Motor Co. v. Smith
- Cona/McDarby v. Merck & Co., Inc.
- Janssen Pharmaceutica v. Bailey/Armond
- Martha Stewart v. United States
Professional Activities
Law Clerk, Honorable Maxine Chesney, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
Admitted, District of Columbia
Author, “The Common Issue In Mass Tort Consolidation” Law360 (September 22, 2009) (with Scott Edson); “Class Action Cops: Public Servants or Private Entrepreneurs,” 57 Stan. L. Rev. 1441 (April 2005); “In Defense of Eldred,” IP Magazine (Spring 2003); “One Small Step for a County Court…One Giant Calamity for the National Legal System,” Civil Justice Report (Center for Legal Policy, March 2003); “United States v. Watts: Unanswered Questions, Acquittal Enhancements, and the Future of Due Process and the American Criminal Jury,” 50 Stan. L. Rev. 1349 (1998)
Member, Board of Directors, Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs; Young Professionals Leadership Board, National Association of Urban Debate Leagues