Matthew J. Griesemer has been employed at Freeman Howard, P.C. since the firm’s inception and became a shareholder in January 2011. Matt concentrates his practice in the areas of civil litigation, commercial and residential real estate, business formation and representation, zoning and land use planning as well as estate planning and estate representation. Matt is also employed as an Adjunct Professor at Albany Law School where he teaches Trial Practice I: Civil and Trial Practice II: Civil. 

Matt regularly represents plaintiffs and defendants in local, State and federal courts throughout New York.  Before joining Freeman Howard, P.C., he worked as a law clerk at Connor, Curran & Schram, P.C., the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York and the Litigation Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s Office.  While in law school, Matt was a member of the Albany Law Review where he served as Executive Editor for Research and Writing. During his undergraduate studies at Binghamton University, Matt attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa through a National Student Exchange and studied on Semester at Sea through the University of Pittsburgh where he sailed around the World. 

Matt was recognized as a member of the 2023 Super Lawyers list, a peer-influenced list of the top 5% attorneys in the area. He was also named a 2023 and 2022 Lawyer of Distinction in the field of Civil Litigation. For the years 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022, he was named a "Rising Star" in New York Super Lawyers, and is the recipient of the International Advisory Experts Award in Civil Litigation and Real Estate Law. Matt has likewise been named as one of America's Top 100 Civil Defense Litigators for 2019 through 2023.  He was also nominated as a Premier Lawyer of America.

Associations

Matt is admitted to practice law in the courts of New York State, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as well as the United States District Courts for the Northern District of New York and the Western District of New York.

In addition, he is an active member of the New York State Bar Association, where he serves as a Delegate to the House of Delegates, a member of the Nominating Committee and a member of the Committee on Leadership Development. He also currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Playground Golf Foundation, Inc. and Columbia Golf & Country Club, Inc.

Education

  • B.A., magna cum laude, Political Science – Binghamton University (2004).
  • J.D., cum laude – Albany Law School of Union University (2007).

Community Involvement

  • Adjunct Professor, Albany Law School
  • Member, Board of Directors, Columbia Golf & Country Club, Inc.
  • Delegate, New York State Bar Association House of Delegates
  • Member of Nominating Committee, New York State Bar Association House of Delegates
  • Member of Committee on Leadership Development, New York State Bar Association House of Delegates
  • Immediate Prior Chairman of the Board, Columbia County Chamber of Commerce Foundation
  • Member and General Counsel, Columbia County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors
  • Coach, Northern Columbia Little League and Chaos Softball
  • Member, Columbia County Association of the City of New York
  • Member, Albany Law School Justinian Society
  • Former Secretary and Trustee, Valatie Free Library Board of Trustees
  • Member, Columbia Golf and Country Club

Publications

  • Aircraft Deicing Fluid and the Environmental Epidemic it is Causing, 72 J. AIR L. & COM. 727 (2007).
  • Directors: Fiduciary Duties, in MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS: CASES AND PROBLEMS ch. 9 (Wendy B. Davis ed. 2007).