Matthew Moscon

ERISA Litigation

For over twenty years, Matt has defended employers, insurers, plans and administrators in ERISA matters. Matt works on both retirement and welfare benefit matters. Matt regularly defends plans, directors and committee members in cases claiming imprudence in selection, monitoring and implementation of investment strategies and fee disputes. Matt also has defended multiple welfare benefits and Mental Health Parity Act cases, particularly in instances involving denials of benefits and alleged underpayment of benefits.

Project Development

Matt has a sophisticated project development practice that has involved both advice and litigation for his clients. For instance, Matt obtained a large judgment on behalf of a major pipeline company based on construction related costs for one of the United States’ largest multi-state gas pipelines. Matt represents some of the largest oil and gas producers in the Western United States in litigation and other matters surrounding their production business. In addition, Matt has acted as lead counsel on multiple matters involving utility-owned coal mines, ranging from penalty appeals to wrongful death claims. Finally, Matt has broad experience both advising and litigating disputes surrounding the citing and development of major transmission lines and substations, including but not limited to the Gateway South, Mona-Oquirrh, Populus-Terminal, and Evanston-Silvercreek lines, among others. Matt’s construction and development experience also includes being lead counsel to the joint venture that built Salt Lake City’s light rail system, assisting the developers of the Kimball Junction Shopping Center near Park City, Utah, and being lead counsel in a series of lawsuits surrounding the development and construction of the Eagleridge Tennis and Swim Club, and subsequent landslide that damaged that facility, among others. Matt’s real estate-related litigation has included being lead litigation counsel to the developers of a $500 million hospital complex in Murray, Utah, and representing condemning authorities and landowners in numerous condemnation disputes, including highways, substations, transmission lines and other related issues. For instance, Matt successfully handled a first-of-kind case surrounding the ability of a private utility to condemn state trust lands.

Product Liability Litigation

Matt’s product liability work has included defending manufacturers of masks and respirators, numerous pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, makers of electrical products, and several companies alleged to have made asbestos-containing products. Matt tried to complete defense verdict and defended on appeal a significant product case resulting from a large fire in historic downtown Park City, Utah.

Energy Law

Matt has overseen a broad array of energy-related litigation matters. For instance, he has been lead counsel in general rate case and certificate proceedings throughout the Western United States; has litigated deferred accounting and balancing account cases and tried numerous environmental matters concerning the prudence of environmental upgrades at power plants in several states. Matt frequently litigates the propriety and levels of returns for utility investors as well as the prudence of transfer to clean energy fuel sources.
Similarly, Matt has tried PURPA and related cases surrounding must-buy and qualified-facility disputes pertaining to wind farms throughout the West, and has been lead counsel in net-metering and distributed generation disputes.

Wildfire Litigation

Matt’s background in energy litigation has made him a frequent courtroom advocate in the growing field of wildfire litigation. Matt has been lead litigation counsel or has acted as a consultant to utilities, investor groups, landowners and lessees pertaining to the Camp Fire, the Solimar Fire, the Woodhollow Fire, the Maria Fire, and the Canal Fire, among others. The consolidated Woodhollow Fire case was one of the largest cases in the Intermountain West with over 600 plaintiffs. In that dispute, Matt and his team took 16 individual cases to verdict through a unique Federal arbitration program, after which the remaining cases settled.

In 2021, Matt was invited to join the faculty at the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah as an adjunct professor. He also serves on the Board of Governors for the Salt Lake Chamber.

• And Justice For All, Leadership Committee, 2019–2021
• Board of Governors, Utah Shakespeare Festival, 2012–2020
• Past Board Member, United Way Community Funding Review Board
• Past Board Member, World Joy, Inc. (a charity providing housing, education and health service in Ghana, Africa)