Matthew Garretson - Lawyer

This text will be replaced

The Garretson Firm
7775 Cooper Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45242
Phone - 513.794.0400
Fax - 513.936.5186

Email - mlg@garretsonfirm.com

Matthew L Garretson is the Founding and Managing Partner and President of the Garretson Law Firm. THe Garretson Law Firm provides mass tort / class action settlement allocation and fund administration services. The firm also handles Medicare / Medicaid reimbursement claims, government benefit preservation strategies, and probate administration for individual and mass tort plaintiffs. Additionally, Matt is the President of The Settlement Services Group which provides structured settlement and settlement-related trust services. Matt serves as the special master and / or administrator of settlement funds throughout the country. His role in numerous high profile church-related sexual abuse and civil rights settlements (including the historic Cincinnati police brutality / racial profiling settlement) was the basis of his selection by Lawyers Weekly as 1 of 5 ""Lawyers of the Year"" in Ohio for 2003.

Education: Matt received his BA from Yale University and his law degree at Kentucky’s Salmon P. Chase College of Law.

Publications: Matt has authored numerous articles In 2005, Loyola University Journal of Public Interest Law published a treatise Matt wrote, entitled A Practical Approach to Avoiding Conflicts of Interest in Aggregate Settlements. In addition, Matt is the author of a legal text book (Thomson West Publishing) entitled Negotiating and Settling Tort Cases that addresses complex settlement-related issues. His articles have been published in:

American Association for Justice’s Trial Magazine,
The American Bar Association’s The Professional Lawyer,
Ohio Trial,
Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers Journal,
Utah Trial Journal,
New York State Trial Lawyers Institute Bill of Particulars,
Texas Trial Lawyers Briefcase Online,
New Jersey Association of Trial Lawyers In Brief,
Orange County Trial Lawyers Association The Gavel Journal,
Florida Justice Association’s FJA Journal and
Insurance Day in the United Kingdom

Speaking Engagements: Matt is a frequent speaker at Continuing Legal Education seminars about lawyers’’ professional responsibilities in individual or mass tort settlements. He has spoken at seminars sponsored by numerous state trial lawyer and state bar associations, The Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Mealey’’s and Mass Torts Made Perfect.

Teaching: Matt is an adjunct professor at Salmon P. Chase College of Law, where he teaches a course on law practice management with an emphasis on how to avoid professional liability claims.

Professional Accolades: Matt's neutral role in numerous high profile settlements led to his selection by Lawyers Weekly as 1 of 5 “Lawyers of the Year” in Ohio for 2003. He was nominated by his peers and selected as an Ohio Rising Star in 2005 and 2006. His work was featured in the LA Times in January of 2005.

Matt’s “form-of-settlement” client counseling model (re: impact of settlement on government benefits, liens / subrogation, structured settlements and the taxation of damages) has received national recognition and is designed to protect clients as well as help lawyers avoid “failure to inform” professional liability claims.
Matt serves as the special master and / or administrator of settlement funds throughout the country.

The Garretson Firm

The Garretson Firm

7775 Cooper Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45242
Phone - 513.794.0400
Fax - 513.936.5186

At The Garretson Firm, we navigate the complex demands of settlement to achieve closure quickly. We utilize our experience, innovation, and proven methodologies to deliver compliant and efficient settlements. Equally important, The Garretson Firm allows our clients to focus on their core competency – litigation.

The Garretson Firm’s original and existing focus remains on addressing problem areas, or critical “points of pain”, in civil settlements, the resolution of which requires specialized knowledge, capabilities or processes. The Garretson Firm is the leading provider nationwide of healthcare lien resolution services for settling parties in matters ranging in size from a single claimant to over 50,000 claimants.

In addition to our innovative work in lien resolution, The Garretson Law Firm has served to verify and audit damage claims of claimants; develop claims protocols; and, to process disbursements. More particularly, in many of our engagements we have collected all relevant documents, reviewed pharmaceutical and medical records, verified injuries, allocated settlement awards, processed claims and distributed funds. In these capacities, we serve as a neutral resource to help the parties objectively facilitate their agreed upon settlement objectives and processes.

Most recently, TGF was recommended by all settling parties, and appointed by the respective federal judge in each settlement, to help administer and process the Vioxx, Guidant and Medtronic Multi District Litigation (MDL) settlement programs referenced below (specifically, evaluating and auditing certain healthcare reimbursement claims / liens related to the participating claimants).

The practice areas of the Garretson Law Firm can independently or collectively assist in any settlement:

Lien Evaluation & Resolution, including Medicare and Medicaid Lien Resolution, Private Healthcare/ERISA Lien Resolution, and Medicare Set-Aside Allocation.
Settlement Allocation, including Allocation Methodology, Medical Record Review, Award Determination, and Serving as Special Master.
Claims Administration, including Claim Process Design and Management, Claimant Education Call Center, Processing Claims & Disbursements, 468B Qualified Settlements Fund Administration, and Educating Regarding Impact of Settlements on Government Benefits.
National Probate & Bankruptcy Coordination, including Developing Probate Plan, National Network of Specialists, Negotiating Fees with Local Counsel, Identify Claimant Bankruptcy Issues, Managing Disbursement Process with Bankruptcy Trustees, and Communicating with Court & Trustees.

The Garretson Firm, built specifically with these concentrations in mind, employs the skilled professionals necessary to handle the entire range of issues that arise in settlements. Our state-of-the-art facility, proprietary systems, and team of professionals serve in numerous legal and operational capacities. Our staff consists of attorneys, paralegals, project managers, systems analysts, data analysts, claims processors, nurses, medical reviewers, external MD panels as well as specialists in lien resolution, billing/coding, and claimant education. All of these experience resources are prepared to support The Garretson Firm’s clients in achieving their desired results.

The Garretson Law Firm has the resources to handle the biggest settlements, as well as the compassion, skill and discretion to handle the most delicate and sensitive matters. A partial listing of recent high-profile multiple-claimant projects includes:

Vioxx Products Liability Litigation,
Guidant Corp. Implantable Defibrillators Products Liability Litigation,
Medtronic, Inc. Implantable Defibrillators Products Liability Litigation,
Zyprexa Products Liability Litigation
Cincinnati Policing,
Roman Catholic Bishop of Louisville, Inc.,
OxyContin Litigation
Archdiocese of Cincinnati Claim Resolution Fund, A
Atlanta Housing Authority,
Diet Drug Settlements – privately retained Special Master / Administrator in 10 separate settlement groups that opted out of the nationwide class action settlement.
Rezulin Products Liability Litigation,
Rhode Island “Station Night Club” Fire

* First Name:		* Last Name:
* Your Zipcode:		* E-Mail:
* Phone Number:
Okay to call you at this number?		Yes No
To Prevent Automated Submissions, Enter the 4 Digit Number Shown Below:
NOTE: We will attempt to respond within 24-48 hours. Please check your email to confirm our receipt of your inquiry.