Matthew A. White is a partner in the Litigation Department and a member of the Commercial Litigation, Real Estate and Construction Litigation, Consumer Financial Services, and Securities Litigation Groups, as well as the Municipal Recovery Initiative. Mr. White concentrates his practice on the protection of business identity and proprietary information, and on an array of business litigation, including federal securities claims, class action defense, intellectual property disputes, and complex construction cases (multiple parties, multiple claims and cross-claims, and potential exposure in excess of $10 million).
Representative Matters
Securities and Class Action
- Participated with another Ballard Spahr lawyer in obtaining dismissal of a putative securities class action; the dismissal was affirmed on appeal and was the first appellate decision in the Third Circuit interpreting pleading standards for scienter under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (PSLRA)
- Served on a trial team that obtained a defense verdict on behalf of the seller of more than $200 million worth of subprime mortgage securitization residuals against claims brought against it under federal securities law; in addition to being one of the few securities fraud cases tried to a final verdict, this case was one of the first litigations involving the subprime market meltdown
- Participated on a Ballard Spahr team that obtained dismissal of a putative securities class action on behalf of a Fortune 100 company; the court dismissed the complaint with prejudice and did not permit the plaintiffs their request for further amendment to their pleading, and, upon the client's agreement not to seek costs, plaintiffs did not appeal the dismissal
- Participated on a Ballard Spahr team that obtained voluntary dismissal of a putative securities class action following the delivery of a letter putting the plaintiff's counsel on notice of the pleading requirements of Federal Rule 11
- Obtained voluntary dismissal, with prejudice, of a putative class action involving allegedly hidden fees associated with ATM transactions on machines owned by a regional bank; the case was dismissed upon payment to the named plaintiff of $1, which represented the fee charged to that plaintiff
Intellectual Property
- Represented a client against allegations of theft of trade secrets; on the eve of a two-week jury trial in federal court, succeeded in having the majority of the more than $100 million damages sought by the plaintiff dismissed as unsupported by evidence; the trial proceeded on the remaining claims and damages, and following the cross-examination of the plaintiff's experts, the case settled for a small fraction of the remaining claims
- Represented a business against a competitor seeking to raid a significant number of the client's employees, obtaining an injunction against the competitor and the former employees to prevent ongoing irreparable harm; following the injunction proceedings, the case went to trial on damages for misappropriation of trade secrets; subsequently obtained an additional monetary settlement in the middle of the trial
- Represents a major securities trader in numerous matters to enforce restrictive covenants and to protect the client's confidential, proprietary, and trade secret information; these cases often play out on multiple fronts (i.e., FINRA arbitration and state or federal court) and are, by necessity, "drop everything" matters
Construction and Real Estate
- Resolved a design- and construction-defect case through mediation and negotiation and without having to assert any formal claim on the client's behalf; the defendants performed more than $6 million of work to remedy the design and construction flaws
- Represented the owner of a $30 million construction project against the design firm; claims centered on misuse of proceeds and inappropriate mark-ups; the claims were arbitrated, and following the cross-examination of the defendant's principal, the matter settled with a payment to the owner in excess of $1 million
- Represented a Philadelphia-based research center when an adjacent property owner disputed the client's use of a right of way and threatened to block access to the client's (and its tenants') use of the right of way for ingress and egress; obtained a resolution of this matter with a strongly worded letter
Mr. White represents both buyers and sellers of commercial and industrial properties where one party is in breach of the agreement of sale, and specific performance, among other remedies, is at issue.