About Matthew William
Matthew William Kumin took a path from the study of cities to the practice of law. He earned a B.A. in Urbanization and Urban History from Brown University and completed his J.D. at Northeastern University School of Law in 1986, where his studies included cooperatives and civil rights. Early teaching and research roles surfaced during and after law school, setting a tone of practice that mixed law, policy and community concerns.
His first law-related teaching role came while he was still a student. In 1984 he served as a teaching assistant at Northeastern University School of Law, and in 1986 he worked as a teaching fellow at Santa Clara University School of Law. Those positions were followed by a move into nonprofit work. In 1988 he became Director of Community Economic Development at the National Center for Employee Ownership. That post tied his legal training to efforts around employee ownership and local economic initiatives.
Kumin began practicing under his own name in 1995, founding the Law Offices of Matthew Kumin. He later took a partner position in 2008 at Kumin, Sommers LLP. In the academic year 2002 he returned to the classroom as an adjunct professor at both the University of California Hastings College of the Law and Golden Gate University School of Law, teaching law students while maintaining a private practice.
His bar admissions include California and the United States Tax Court. Those credentials reflect an interest in matters that intersect business form, taxation and community-based enterprise. His background at the National Center for Employee Ownership and his law practice suggest a concentration on legal issues affecting cooperatives, employee-owned businesses and community economic development, alongside federal tax work.
Colleagues and former students describe Kumin as methodical in approach. He has balanced teaching and practice across three decades. He has moved between nonprofit policy work, private practice and legal education, and those shifts show a consistent engagement with business structures that serve workers and communities.
He maintains an office under the name The Law Office of Matthew Kumin. He continues to practice law, handling matters that draw on experience in cooperative law, community economic development and tax practice.
