Matthew C. Hoffman
Texas Tower
845 Texas Avenue
Suite 4700
Houston, Texas 77002
Matt is a trial lawyer who has represented and advised clients in numerous commercial disputes in federal and state court and in private arbitration. He has taken a lead role in litigating a diverse range of commercial cases, including contract disputes, energy litigation, construction disputes, class actions, environmental matters, and catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases. Matt has broad experience representing clients at all stages of the litigation process, from crafting pre-suit resolutions of complex matters and securing dismissals at the pleading stage and on summary judgment, to presenting and cross examining witnesses at trial and presenting oral arguments on appeal.
Prior to joining Vinson & Elkins, Matt served as a law clerk to Judge David Hittner in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Experience Highlights
(Colo. Dist. – Denver Cnty.) After a three-week trial to the court, secured a $280 million judgment in favor of Antero Treatment while defeating a $118 million counterclaim; the Court found that the defendant fraudulently induced Antero into signing an agreement for the design, construction and operation of a facility for the treatment of produced and flowback water; the Court also found that Antero properly terminated the agreement after the defendant defaulted by failing to construct the facility according to the requirements of the contract
(AAA Arbitration) – Won a complete defense award for the owner of a midstream bulk liquids terminal after a multi-week arbitration against the terminal’s former operator; the operator sought $27 million in lost profits damages, plus attorneys’ fees, after our client terminated its contract for cause; the operator recovered nothing on its claims and was ordered to pay damages on our client’s counterclaims; at trial, cross examined Claimant’s liability expert witness and key fact witnesses and direct examined multiple fact witnesses, including our client’s corporate representative
(AAA Arbitration) – Obtained a favorable result for a major energy company following an arbitration hearing against a contractor concerning the construction of a micro-fuel handling facility as part of a US $1.5 billion energy infrastructure project in the Caribbean
(Tex. Dist. – Harris County); (14th Court of Appeals) – Argued and prevailed on a motion for summary judgment on behalf of a commercial real estate company, obtaining the complete dismissal of a breach of contract and nuisance lawsuit asserted by a neighboring property owner in connection with our client’s development and expansion of a regional distribution center; presented oral arguments on appeal to the Fourteenth Court of Appeals, which affirmed the trial court’s summary judgment in full
(Tex. Dist. – Jefferson County) – Argued and prevailed on a motion for summary judgment on behalf of an international construction company, obtaining the complete dismissal of a fraud and breach of contract lawsuit arising from our client’s construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal along the Texas Gulf Coast
(AAA Arbitration) – Obtained a seven-figure (net) arbitration award for the developer of an underground natural gas storage facility in Brazil against the project’s reservoir engineering contractor in connection with the engineering contractor’s performance of front end engineering and design services; cross examined Claimant’s expert witness on damages and fact witnesses and direct examined our client’s corporate representative at the arbitration hearing
(S.D. Tex.) – Obtained the complete dismissal for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) of all claims asserted by a wrongful death Plaintiff under the federal Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act against the owner of one of the world’s largest petroleum refineries
(Tex. Dist. – Harris County) – Defended a Fortune 500 energy company in a jury trial against claims arising from an alleged catastrophic injury sustained by a contractor at our client’s chemical plant; following the presentation of Plaintiff’s case and our cross examination of Plaintiff’s witnesses, the case ended in a favorable settlement for our client; at trial, served as second-chair trial counsel, cross examining fact witnesses and handling pre-trial motions
(Tex. Dist. – Hidalgo County) – Obtained the complete dismissal pursuant to Chapter 95 of the Civil Practice & Remedies Code of a wrongful death lawsuit asserted against a Fortune 500 energy company arising from the death of a contractor at our client’s oil-drilling site; during same case, obtained the complete dismissal of cross-claims asserted against our client for business disparagement and defamation
(Tex. Dist. – Harris County) – Argued and prevailed on a motion for summary judgment on behalf of a Fortune 500 pipeline company, obtaining the complete dismissal of a fraud, breach of contract, and tortious interference lawsuit brought in connection with the acquisition of a pipeline maintenance company
(S.D. Tex.) – Obtained the dismissal of six separate lawsuits arising from a fire at a midstream bulk liquids terminal owned by our client’s subsidiary; after drafting and filing a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction in each case, each plaintiff voluntarily dismissed their claims against our client
(E.D. Tex.) – Part of a team that defeated an application for injunctive relief challenging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ reissuance of Nationwide Permit 12 and seeking to enjoin our client’s construction of a pipeline connecting its bulk liquids terminal in the Port of Beaumont to the largest refinery in North America
(Tex. Dist. – Jefferson County) – Obtained the Plaintiff’s dismissal of a wrongful death lawsuit against our client by drafting and filing a Motion to Dismiss under Rule 91a
(Harris County) – Obtained Plaintiffs’ dismissal of $1 billion+ putative class action following class action discovery in a case alleging widespread flooding caused by the construction of our client’s pipelines
(Tex. Dist.—Harris Cnty.) – Representing midstream oil and gas company in multidistrict litigation (“MDL”) action involving 125 lawsuits that allege property damage caused by the construction of pipelines; successfully transferred the lawsuits into an MDL proceeding over the plaintiffs’ objection; presented arguments to First Court of Appeals on dispositive interlocutory issue
Representing a $740 million novel tax dispute involving a facial challenge to the validity of the IRS’s Partnership Anti-Abuse Regulation
(E.D. Tex.) – Representing a major building products manufacturer in products liability dispute alleging defects in the manufacture and construction of the property at issue
(S.D. Ill.) – Defeated Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification in a case brought against a Fortune 500 pipeline company by a group of landowners alleging property damages resulting from an oil spill
(S.D. Tex.) – Assisted in negotiating and obtaining on behalf of a Fortune 500 life sciences company a pre-suit resolution of numerous putative radiation contamination claims under the Price Anderson Act
(AAA Arbitration) – Represented a major EPC contractor in asserting breach of contract claims against a project owner arising from our client’s construction of an ammonia plant along the Texas Gulf Coast
(Tex. Dist. – Harris County) – Represented a Fortune 500 midstream energy company in a breach of contract lawsuit against the operator of our client’s midstream rail terminal
(S.D. Tex.) – Defended an oilfield services company against claims for breach of contract and fraud arising from our client’s acquisition of the company
Credentials
- University of Houston Law Center, J.D. cum laude, 2012 (Editor in Chief, Houston Law Review; Distinguished Service Award; Order of the Barons; Order of the Scribes)
- The University of Texas, B.A., Government and History, 2007
- Judicial clerk to The Honorable David Hittner, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, 2012–2014
- Selected to the Texas Super Lawyers list, Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters), 2023 and 2024
- Selected to the Texas Rising Stars list, Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters), 2022
- The Best Lawyers in America© (BL Rankings, LLC), “Ones to Watch,” (Houston): Commercial Litigation, 2021–2025; Energy Law, 2021–2025; Litigation–Securities, 2022–2025; Litigation–Environmental, 2023–2025
- Legal 500 U.S., Dispute Resolution: General Commercial Disputes, 2023
- Director: Houston Law Review Board of Directors
- Fellow: Texas Bar Foundation
- Associate Editor of The Advocate, the State Bar of Texas’s Quarterly Litigation Publication
- Past Co-Chair of Houston Bar Association’s Judicial Polls Committee
- Member: Houston Bar Association, Federal Bar Association, Houston Young Lawyers Association
- Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
- Rankings & AwardsSeptember 19, 2024
- Deals & CasesJuly 10, 2024
- Rankings & AwardsSeptember 18, 2023
- Deals & CasesAugust 25, 2023
- Rankings & AwardsAugust 21, 2023
- Rankings & AwardsJune 12, 2023
- Rankings & AwardsAugust 18, 2022
- Rankings & AwardsMarch 29, 2022
- Press ReleaseJanuary 11, 2022
- “Notable Issues in Federal Summary Judgment Practice,” The Advocate: State Bar of Texas Litigation Publication, Summer 2014 (co-author with the Honorable David Hittner)
- “Summary Judgment Practice in Federal and State Court,” State Bar of Texas Advanced Personal Injury Law Course, Summer 2014 (presenter)
- “Unraveling the Jurisdictional Citizenship of Master Limited Partnerships,” 4 HLRe 127, Spring 2014
- “An Introduction to Federal Court Procedure,” Attorney Admissions Workshop, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, November 2013 (presenter)
- “LAW REVIEW: the First Fifty Years of Hous. L. Rev.” Book published by the Houston Law Review (2014) and printed in Volume 50, Issues 1–5 of the Houston Law Review (2013)
- “Fast’s Four Factors: A Solution to Similarly Situated Discovery Disputes in FLSA Collective Actions,” 49 Hous. L. Rev. 491 (2012) (cited in: Elliott v. Schlumberger Tech. Corp., 2015 WL 13740759 (D.N.D. June 15, 2015); Winkler v. Sunbelt Rentals, Inc., 2014 WL 12596498 (N.D. Tex. July 10, 2014); Rivera v. UBM Enter., Inc., 2014 WL 462586 (N.D. Tex. Feb. 5, 2014)).