About Matthew A.
Matthew A. Fitzgerald is a partner and co-chair of the Appeals and Issues Group at McGuireWoods LLP. He arrived in appellate practice after a series of high-profile clerkships and an early stint in private practice. His resume shows a steady concentration on appellate work, from the courthouse bench to the briefing table.
He graduated from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in American government and politics in 2004 and earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2008. Those years set the stage for federal appellate work that followed. After law school he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Edward E. Carnes on the U.S. Court of Appeals and later clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas at the Supreme Court of the United States.
Following his clerkships, Fitzgerald spent time as an associate at Hunton & Williams LLP. That period in private practice gave him early exposure to appellate briefing and motion work for corporate and institutional clients. He joined McGuireWoods in 2011 and moved into leadership of the firm’s appellate practice, taking on the co-chair role in the Appeals and Issues Group.
Fitzgerald’s admissions cover a broad range of federal and state forums. He is admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Federal Circuit and the D.C. Circuit, and to the regional circuits that hear most federal appeals. He also holds membership in the District of Columbia Bar and the Virginia State Bar, and he appears in the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia. Those credentials allow him to handle appeals that start in trial courts and rise through multiple layers of review.
Within the firm he leads appellate teams on complex legal questions. He writes and edits principal briefs, prepares petition and merits-stage filings, and presents oral argument in appellate courts. He works with trial counsel to shape record and preserve issues for appeal, and he supervises more junior lawyers handling research and drafting tasks.
He is a member of the Appellate Section of the Virginia Bar Association and maintains active bar memberships in both the District of Columbia and Virginia. Colleagues describe him as deliberate in analysis and concise in oral presentation.
He currently represents clients in appellate litigation in federal and state courts, including matters before the U.S. Supreme Court and the federal courts of appeals.
