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Lawyer Profile

Image of Matthew D. Easton

Matthew D. Easton

Easton & Easton, LLP
  • Recognized Since:
    2018
  • Recognized in:
    Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs
    Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs
  • Lawyer Page:
    http://www.eastonlawoffices.co...
  • Website:
    http://www.eastonlawoffices.co...
  • Firm's Phone Number:
    (714) 850.4590
  • Languages:
    English, Spanish
  • Location:
    650 Town Center Drive, Suite 1850
    Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Matt Easton has been a central figure in some of Easton & Easton’s most prominent cases in recent years, including a 2019 mediated settlement for $20,000,000, a 2016 settlement for $3,060,000, a 2013 settlement for $2,750,000, and two 2017 settlements for $1,875,000 and $1,800,000 — all of which were selected as Top Million-Dollar Settlements in California for their respective years, and which contributed to Matt’s lifetime selection to the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum® - The Top Trial Lawyers in America® (an honor given to less than 1% of all attorneys in the United States).   

Matt is a partner at Easton & Easton and has been selected each year since 2016 among Super Lawyers’ Up-and-Coming Top 100 (Southern California) and Super Lawyers’ Up-and-Coming Top 25 (Orange County), honors given to less than 1% of attorneys.  Matt has also been chosen each year since 2018 as one of the Best Lawyers in America for Plaintiff’s Personal Injury and Product Liability Litigation.  Best Lawyers selects attorneys who have earned peer recognition through exemplary legal work that attracts the notice of their colleagues. Lawyers cannot buy their way onto this list.  Matt has also been featured among Southern California’s “Best Lawyers” each year since 2017 in the Orange County Register and Los Angeles Times Magazine. 

Additionally, he has been chosen each year since 2014 for the National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40 in California and Southern California Super Lawyers Rising Stars, honors given to less than 2.5% of attorneys in Southern California under the age of 40.  Matt has also been selected each year since 2015 for the American Academy of Trial Attorneys’ Premier 100 Trial Attorneys, the American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys “10 Best” Attorneys for California, the National Academy of Personal Injury Attorneys’ Top 10 Under 40, and for the highest AV Preeminentrating offered by Martindale-Hubbell, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious peer rating service for legal ability and ethics.   

Based on the significant trial skills and incorporation of trial technology that Matt has brought to bear in his cases over recent years, he was also asked to join the faculty at Whittier Law School as an Adjunct Professor to teach a class on Trial Technology from 2015 - 2017.  Additionally, in early 2016, Matt was the youngest litigator asked by NBC to screen test for an upcoming NBC primetime real-life trial series Law & Order: You The Jury — a new reality series created by Dick Wolf to feature high profile real-life litigators trying lawsuits live on primetime television for a voting audience.  While very flattered by the interest in his skills and talents, Matt decided to decline the request due to the time commitments of his law practice and teaching schedule. 

The recognition Matt is receiving from his peers in the legal community is not surprising, as he first came to our firm (then known as the Law Offices of W. Douglas Easton) with high marks and accomplishments in college and law school. He received his B.A. in 2006 from Brigham Young University, where he majored in English and minored in Philosophy and Editing.  Whittier Law School awarded Matt a full academic scholarship, which paid his full tuition for all three years of law school at Whittier.  In 2009, Matt received his Juris Doctor magna cum laude from Whittier Law School, graduating in the top 10% of his class.  He was admitted to the California Bar in 2009. 

While at Whittier Law School, Matt was chosen as the “Best Oral Advocate” of the 3rd Annual Susan E. McGuigan Oral Advocacy Competition and “Best Overall Competitor” of the 2008 Spring Trial Advocacy Competition.  He also competed in numerous external oral advocacy competitions on behalf Whittier Law School’s Trial Advocacy Honors Board and Moot Court Honors Board, which took him as far as Vienna, Austria in Competition.  In 2008, Matt was selected as the Chief Justice of the Moot Court Honors Board and served in that position from 2008 till his graduation in 2009.  Matt also continues to serve as a guest coach and judge for oral advocacy teams competing through Whittier Law School’s Trial Advocacy Honors Board and Moot Court Honors Board.  

Matt was also a graduating member of Whittier’s prestigious Law Review, where he assisted in the editing and publication of numerous scholarly legal articles.  In addition, Matt’s own article was published in the Whittier Law Review in Fall 2008 (Volume 30, Number 1).  Matt’s article, “Disparate Outcomes Among Medical Malpractice Victims: A New Look at an Equal Protection Challenge to MICRA,” allowed him to passionately address the continuing problems that MICRA poses to California medical malpractice victims, which is an issue he has seen the effects of first-hand through his work at Easton & Easton. 

Since joining Easton & Easton, Matt has litigated hundreds of cases for meritorious plaintiffs, including important cases against the State of California, numerous cities, numerous school districts, and countless large corporate entities and other defendants.  In 2019, Matt acquired $20,000,000 in a hotly disputed matter for a client injured on the Defendant’s premises.  In 2016, Matt single-handedly litigated and ultimately orchestrated the mediated settlement of a difficult lane-splitting motorcycle accident for $3,060,000 (10 times the medical bills).  In 2017, Matt acquired $1,875,000 and $1,800,000 for two auto accident pre-litigation cases where the plaintiff’s medical bills were less than $200,000 in each case.  In 2013, Matt was instrumental in securing a negotiated settlement of $2.75 Million for the wrongful death of an unmarried 55-year-old man whose only surviving heirs were his 80-year-old parents, such that he received a Commendation from the City of Lancaster for his work in that case.  In 2014, Matt represented a breast cancer survivor whose healed breast reconstruction incision ruptured after a T-bone collision.  After litigating the case for more than a year, Matt negotiated an exceptional settlement of $1,240,000 one month before trial.  

Over the past three years, Matt has acquired countless other impressive awards for his clients, including $2,000,000 for a client who fell from a ladder that he placed of his own volition on top of an unsafe scaffolding; a $1,300,000 pre-litigation settlement for a car accident caused by a drunk driver evading the police; a $1,250,000 settlement for a car accident victim whose post-accident cervical fusion failed and required a revision surgery; a confidential mediated settlement of $350,000 for a slip and fall case against a big box chain store; a mediated settlement of $325,000 that was more than 6 times the medical bills for a dog attack case where no bite had occurred; a confidential settlement of $250,000 for a client who was struck by a wooden stick by an actor in a Halloween maze; $185,000 against Walnut Valley Unified School District in a difficult premises liability case wherein the medical bills were only $25,000; a mediated settlement of $175,000 against the State of California for an extremely

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  • Lawyer Bio
  • Client Comments
  • Lawyer Practice Areas
  • Firm Details
  • Legal Insights
  • News & Media
  • Case History

Lawyer Bio

Matt Easton has been a central figure in some of Easton & Easton’s most prominent cases in recent years, including a 2019 mediated settlement for $20,000,000, a 2016 settlement for $3,060,000, a 2013 settlement for $2,750,000, and two 2017 settlements for $1,875,000 and $1,800,000 — all of which were selected as Top Million-Dollar Settlements in California for their respective years, and which contributed to Matt’s lifetime selection to the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum® - The Top Trial Lawyers in America® (an honor given to less than 1% of all attorneys in the United States).   

Matt is a partner at Easton & Easton and has been selected each year since 2016 among Super Lawyers’ Up-and-Coming Top 100 (Southern California) and Super Lawyers’ Up-and-Coming Top 25 (Orange County), honors given to less than 1% of attorneys.  Matt has also been chosen each year since 2018 as one of the Best Lawyers in America for Plaintiff’s Personal Injury and Product Liability Litigation.  Best Lawyers selects attorneys who have earned peer recognition through exemplary legal work that attracts the notice of their colleagues. Lawyers cannot buy their way onto this list.  Matt has also been featured among Southern California’s “Best Lawyers” each year since 2017 in the Orange County Register and Los Angeles Times Magazine. 

Additionally, he has been chosen each year since 2014 for the National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40 in California and Southern California Super Lawyers Rising Stars, honors given to less than 2.5% of attorneys in Southern California under the age of 40.  Matt has also been selected each year since 2015 for the American Academy of Trial Attorneys’ Premier 100 Trial Attorneys, the American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys “10 Best” Attorneys for California, the National Academy of Personal Injury Attorneys’ Top 10 Under 40, and for the highest AV Preeminentrating offered by Martindale-Hubbell, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious peer rating service for legal ability and ethics.   

Based on the significant trial skills and incorporation of trial technology that Matt has brought to bear in his cases over recent years, he was also asked to join the faculty at Whittier Law School as an Adjunct Professor to teach a class on Trial Technology from 2015 - 2017.  Additionally, in early 2016, Matt was the youngest litigator asked by NBC to screen test for an upcoming NBC primetime real-life trial series Law & Order: You The Jury — a new reality series created by Dick Wolf to feature high profile real-life litigators trying lawsuits live on primetime television for a voting audience.  While very flattered by the interest in his skills and talents, Matt decided to decline the request due to the time commitments of his law practice and teaching schedule. 

The recognition Matt is receiving from his peers in the legal community is not surprising, as he first came to our firm (then known as the Law Offices of W. Douglas Easton) with high marks and accomplishments in college and law school. He received his B.A. in 2006 from Brigham Young University, where he majored in English and minored in Philosophy and Editing.  Whittier Law School awarded Matt a full academic scholarship, which paid his full tuition for all three years of law school at Whittier.  In 2009, Matt received his Juris Doctor magna cum laude from Whittier Law School, graduating in the top 10% of his class.  He was admitted to the California Bar in 2009. 

While at Whittier Law School, Matt was chosen as the “Best Oral Advocate” of the 3rd Annual Susan E. McGuigan Oral Advocacy Competition and “Best Overall Competitor” of the 2008 Spring Trial Advocacy Competition.  He also competed in numerous external oral advocacy competitions on behalf Whittier Law School’s Trial Advocacy Honors Board and Moot Court Honors Board, which took him as far as Vienna, Austria in Competition.  In 2008, Matt was selected as the Chief Justice of the Moot Court Honors Board and served in that position from 2008 till his graduation in 2009.  Matt also continues to serve as a guest coach and judge for oral advocacy teams competing through Whittier Law School’s Trial Advocacy Honors Board and Moot Court Honors Board.  

Matt was also a graduating member of Whittier’s prestigious Law Review, where he assisted in the editing and publication of numerous scholarly legal articles.  In addition, Matt’s own article was published in the Whittier Law Review in Fall 2008 (Volume 30, Number 1).  Matt’s article, “Disparate Outcomes Among Medical Malpractice Victims: A New Look at an Equal Protection Challenge to MICRA,” allowed him to passionately address the continuing problems that MICRA poses to California medical malpractice victims, which is an issue he has seen the effects of first-hand through his work at Easton & Easton. 

Since joining Easton & Easton, Matt has litigated hundreds of cases for meritorious plaintiffs, including important cases against the State of California, numerous cities, numerous school districts, and countless large corporate entities and other defendants.  In 2019, Matt acquired $20,000,000 in a hotly disputed matter for a client injured on the Defendant’s premises.  In 2016, Matt single-handedly litigated and ultimately orchestrated the mediated settlement of a difficult lane-splitting motorcycle accident for $3,060,000 (10 times the medical bills).  In 2017, Matt acquired $1,875,000 and $1,800,000 for two auto accident pre-litigation cases where the plaintiff’s medical bills were less than $200,000 in each case.  In 2013, Matt was instrumental in securing a negotiated settlement of $2.75 Million for the wrongful death of an unmarried 55-year-old man whose only surviving heirs were his 80-year-old parents, such that he received a Commendation from the City of Lancaster for his work in that case.  In 2014, Matt represented a breast cancer survivor whose healed breast reconstruction incision ruptured after a T-bone collision.  After litigating the case for more than a year, Matt negotiated an exceptional settlement of $1,240,000 one month before trial.  

Over the past three years, Matt has acquired countless other impressive awards for his clients, including $2,000,000 for a client who fell from a ladder that he placed of his own volition on top of an unsafe scaffolding; a $1,300,000 pre-litigation settlement for a car accident caused by a drunk driver evading the police; a $1,250,000 settlement for a car accident victim whose post-accident cervical fusion failed and required a revision surgery; a confidential mediated settlement of $350,000 for a slip and fall case against a big box chain store; a mediated settlement of $325,000 that was more than 6 times the medical bills for a dog attack case where no bite had occurred; a confidential settlement of $250,000 for a client who was struck by a wooden stick by an actor in a Halloween maze; $185,000 against Walnut Valley Unified School District in a difficult premises liability case wherein the medical bills were only $25,000; a mediated settlement of $175,000 against the State of California for an extremely

Read more on firm website
  • Bar & Court Admissions
  • Award List

Bar Admissions:

  • California, 2009
 

Court Admissions:

  • California

Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America for work in:

  • Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs
  • Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs
 

Awards:

  • Top 25 Up-and-Coming in Orange County - Super Lawyers Rising Stars (2016-2020)
  • Top 100 Up-and-Coming in Southern California - Super Lawyers Rising Stars (2016-2020)
  • Top 50 Verdict in California - TopVderict.com (2016)
  • Best Lawyers in America (Plaintiff's Personal Injury Litigation & Plaintiff's Product Liability Litigation) - Best Lawyers (2018-2020)
  • Super Lawyers Rising Stars - Super Lawyers (2014-2020)
  • Highest AV Preeminent Rating - Martindale-Hubbell (2015-2020)
  • Multi-Million Dollar Advocates® - Lifetime Certification
  • Top 40 Under 40 - National Trial Lawyers (2016-2020)
  • Top 10 Under 40 (California) - National Academy of Personal Injury Attorneys (2015-2020)
  • "10 Best" Personal Injury Attorneys (California) - American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys (2016-2020)
 

Lawyer Client Comments

Lawyer Practice Areas

Key: Awarded in Best Lawyers Not Currently Awarded for this Area in Best Lawyers

Firm Details

Image for Easton & Easton, LLP View Firm Profile
Easton & Easton, LLP
http://www.eastonlawoffices.co...
 
Headquarters
650 Town Center Drive, Suite 1850
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 850.4590

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Lawyer Case History

$20,000,000 Settlement

I recently acquired $20,000,000 in a confidential settlement for a client who was severely injured on the premises of the defendants by an indigent 3rd party.  The defendants initially contended that they were not liable for any of my client's damages and would not pay a penny for settlement, vowing to spend millions to defend the case because they believed all liability rested with the 3rd party.  Nonetheless, my team and I spent more than 3 years investigating and litigating the matter and defeated multiple motions to dismiss the case until we had proved that the premises of the defendants were negligently designed and the defendants' security was improperly trained, such that the defendants were primarily liable for my client's significant injuries (despite the negligent actions of the indigent 3rd party). Ultimately, after spending millions trying to defend the case, filing countless motions to dismiss the matter, and taking more than 20 depositions, the defendants realized that they would need to pay millions to resolve the matter or a jury would force them to do so.  After a heated and contentious mediation, I negotiated a $20 million settlement for my client.  As part of this settlement, the defendants also agreed to rectify the dangerous aspects of their premises and security protocols to ensure an incident like this could never happen again.

$3,060,000 Settlement

I recently acquired $3,060,000 for a client injured while lane splitting on a motorcycle on the edge of the carpool lane when a shuttle bus suddenly changed lanes into the carpool lane of the 405 freeway.  While the bus company initially disputed liability due to my client’s lane splitting conduct, I was ultimately able to show that the bus driver’s negligent lane change was the true cause of the collision and they accepted full liability. As a result of this accident, my client slammed into the side of the shuttle bus and then crashed onto the roadway, suffering a fractured pelvis, torn ACL, internal degloving wound, and various shearing wounds.  He underwent three surgeries and more than a year of physical therapy, and incurred $300,000 in medical bills.  After demonstrating the significant effect that this accident had on my client’s life, the shuttle bus company sought a mediation early in the litigation process and ultimately paid $3,060,000.

$2,150,000 Settlement

I recently acquired $2,150,000 for a foster child who suffered brain damage due to negligent supervision and medical care.  The foster child had been born prematurely due to drug abuse by her birth mother and was taken from her birth mother immediately after birth and placed into foster care.  Thereafter, the negligence of her caregivers allowed her to develop RSV Encephalitis, which was insufficiently treated by her medical providers (both her pediatrician and the ER doctors).  The adoptive parents of the child were so troubled by the care that had been provided to this child, that they sought consultation with our firm shortly after the adoption was finalized (more than two years after these events took place).  Despite our delayed entrance into the matter, I was able to obtain $2,150,000 collectively from the child’s medical providers and the foster parent compensation fund after almost two years of hard fought litigation.

$1,875,000 Settlement

I recently acquired $1,875,000 for a minor client who suffered a cervical dislocation requiring a single-level Cervical Fusion.  My client was a high school sophomore at the time of the accident riding in the vehicle of another minor, who attempted to "drift" on a dirt shoulder when he lost control of his vehicle causing this accident.  After 9-12 months of rehab post-fusion, my client made a remarkable recovery and was able to resume playing football for his high school team (despite the Cervical Fusion) and was selected as Team Captain, MVP, and All-League for his conference during his Senior Year.  Despite the remarkable recovery, I was able to convince the defense that my client's young age exposed him to the possibility of significant further treatment resulting in a mediated settlement at $1,875,000 pre-litigation.

$1,800,000 Settlement

I recently acquired a $1,800,000 settlement for a client who suffered a motorcycle accident causing a comminuted right wrist fracture requiring ORIF Surgical Repair, as well as left shoulder and left ankle fractures that were treated non-surgically.  My client spent two weeks in the hospital and incurred $168,000 in past medical specials and alleged more than $300,000 in lost earnings.  Despite claiming the possibility for future surgery if his condition deteriorated, he experienced few lingering complaints or limitations and I was able to negotiate a $1,800,000 settlement.
 
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