Matthew Piers is the President and Senior Counsel of Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. He is an internationally recognized trial and appellate attorney, with a practice concentrated on complex litigation and constitutional matters. He has decades of experience in complex and class action litigation in a broad array of federal and state courts around the country.

For plaintiffs, he has obtained over a billion dollars in verdicts and settlements including single case amounts exceeding $200 million. He has also successfully defended litigation involving claims for hundreds of millions of dollars.

He has been lead counsel in some of the most impactful civil rights injunctive litigation in the nation, including the Rockford School Desegregation Case, The Chicago Police Red Squad case, Hispanics United v Village of Addison, Ill.

After three years of college at Cornell University, Mr. Piers enrolled in the University of Chicago Law School, where he graduated in 1974. He worked for a year as a staff attorney at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago, and then established a private litigation practice which he then left in 1984 to become the Deputy Corporation Counsel of the City of Chicago, supervising all litigation for the City under the administration of Mayor Harold Washington. He joined HSPRD in 1989.

From 2010 to 2015, Mr. Piers was also the lead attorney for the PROTEJE Program of the Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores of the United Mexican States (the foreign ministry of the government of Mexico), providing legal representation in impact cases brought on behalf of Mexican nationals throughout the United States.

Mr. Piers practice focuses on complex litigation cases in a variety of areas including mass tort, wrongful death and serious injury, commercial, constitutional, civil liberties, consumer protection, and employment and housing discrimination claims. He also has extensive experience representing whistleblowers in false claims (qui tam) cases.

Education

University of Chicago Law School (J.D. 1974)

Cornell University (1971-1974)

Admissions

Illinois (1974)

U.S. Supreme Court

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois – General & Trial Bar

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York

Pro hac vice admissions in numerous other courts

Professional Recognition

Legal Legend Award, American Constitution Society, Chicago Chapter (2015)

Top Rated Lawyers of Chicago, The National Law Journal (2013)

Pro Bono Award, Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (2013)

William R. Ming, Jr. Award, Cook County Bar Association (2012)

Pursuit of Justice Award, American Muslims for Palestine (2012)

AV® Preeminent™ Rating by Martindale-Hubbell® (annually)

Selected by Lawdragon 500 as one of the 400 best litigators in the nation (2007), Leading Plaintiff Employment Lawyer (2020-2023) and Civil Rights Lawyer (2021-2023)

National Association of Distinguished Counsel, Nation’s Top One Percent (2015-2022)

Ranked as one of America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators® in Illinois (2019)

Superb rated by AVVO (annually)

Included on the Illinois Super Lawyers® list (2005-2025)

Illinois Leading Lawyer in Civil Appellate Law, Civil Rights/ Constitutional Law, Commercial Litigation, and Governmental, Municipal, Lobbying & Administrative Law (2010-2023). Ranked as one of Illinois Leading Lawyers: Top 5 Class Action and Mass Tort Plaintiff’s Lawyers; Top 5 Civil Rights Lawyers; Top 100 Consumer Lawyers (2019)

Lawyer of the Year Award, The Hispanic Council (1999)

Finalist for Trial Lawyer of the Year Award, Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (1998)

Legal Services Award, MALDEF (1998)

Legal Eagle Award, Independent Voters of Illinois, IPO (1981 and 1985)

Memberships / Associations

Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers

Member, Illinois State Bar Association

Member, Chicago Bar Association

Member, Chicago Council of Lawyers

Member, American Association for Justice

Member, Illinois Trial Lawyers Association

Member, Taxpayers Against Fraud

Litigation Advisory Committee, American Immigration Council

Board of Advisors, American Constitution Society, Chicago Chapter

Presentations & Publications

Lewis v. City of Chicago: Challenging Standardized Employment Tests Under Title VII (CLE presentation, Apr. 23, 2015).

The False Claims Act: Combating Fraud on the Government (CLE presentation in collaboration with the American Constitution Society; Nov. 11, 2014).

Voting Rights Impact on Minorities (CLE presentation to the Arab American Bar Association (2022)

Malevolent Destruction of a Muslim Charity: A Commentary on the Prosecution of Benevolence International Foundation (Pace University Law Review, 2005)

Rockford School Desegregation Case 40 Years Later. Commemoration of the litigation held by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (June 7, 1922)

Lessons from Anderson v. Trump; presentation at annual John Grady seminar held by United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (July 11, 2024)

The False Claims Act: Combating Fraud on the Government, presentation in collaboration with the American Constitution Society (Nov. 11, 2014).

Languages

English