McGuireWoods has brought aboard veteran Texas consultant Matt Matthews as a firm partner and a senior vice president for its McGuireWoods Consulting team in Austin.
Matthews had been a chief of staff in the Texas Senate, general counsel to the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee, and chief of staff to a Texas state representative. He also ran his own consulting and lobbying shop, helping companies and associations navigate legislative and regulatory processes.
‘We have a growing market in Texas, particularly in education and healthcare and Matt has done a lot of work in charter schools and other areas. He’s already worked with our team there,” said Jim Hodges, president of McGuireWoods Consulting.
McGuireWoods Consulting, a subsidiary of the law firm, was founded in 1998 as a public affairs firm offering federal, state and local government relations, infrastructure and economic development, strategic communications and grassroots mobilization services. It’s clients have included standardized testing company ACT Inc., as well as power company Dominion Energy, car rental providers Hertz Global, and media conglomerate Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.
McGuireWoods, founded in Richmond, Va., has more than 1,000 lawyers and offers a variety of legal services. The law firm recently advised Biofrontera, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of international biopharmaceutical company Biofrontera AG, in its initial public offering and a $15 million public equity placement.
In addition to his other previous positions, Matthews had been chief clerk for the Texas House Committee on Financial Institutions. He was owner of Matt Matthews & Co., a lobbying and public affairs firm for 22 years, according to his LinkedIn profile.
His political experience includes working as the campaign manager in 2005-06 for former U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, and managing campaigns for a number of statewide and local elected officials. He was executive director for the Republican Party’s Victory Committee during the period when it was chaired by then-Gov. George W. Bush.
Mark Bowles, chairman of McGuireWoods Consulting, said, in a statement, “Matt has built coalitions around healthcare, education, taxation and energy to help clients advance their agenda before the legislature and regulatory agencies. His expertise will be invaluable to our clients.”
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/texas-republican-operative-matthews-joins-mcguirewoods-in-austin
