Matthew Collette

Matthew Collette (@mattcollette14) is a partner at Massey & Gail LLP.  Mr. Collette served on the Appellate Staff of the Civil Division at the United States Department of Justice from 1988 to 2018, serving as Deputy Director of that office from 2012-2018.  Mr. Collette also served as Senior Counsel to the Associate Attorney General in 2011-12. In his three decades as an appellate litigator, Mr. Collette has argued over 80 federal appellate cases, appearing in every federal circuit, and has briefed, argued, or supervised some of the government’s most sensitive and important cases, including many in the area of national security. His wide-ranging experience in complex civil litigation includes constitutional matters, administrative law, commercial litigation, national security law, sovereign immunity, transportation law, admiralty, and environmental law (including the Deepwater Horizon litigation). Since leaving DOJ, Mr. Collette has represented clients in appellate and trial proceedings, including Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) cases, and counseled clients on regulatory issues. Recent articles by Mr. Collette on issues such as recent FOIA decisions and the credibility of the Department of Justice have appeared in Law360 and the National Law Journal. Mr. Collette also serves on the Board of the Forage Center for Peacebuilding and Humanitarian Education.