Matt Easton, the youngest partner at Easton & Easton, first came to the firm (then known as the Law Offices of W. Douglas Easton) with high marks and accomplishments in college and law school. He received his B.A. in 2006 from Brigham Young University, where he majored in English and minored in Philosophy and Editing.
Whittier Law School awarded Matt a full academic scholarship which paid his full tuition for all three years of law school at Whittier. In 2009, Matt received his Juris Doctor magna cum laude from Whittier Law School, graduating in the top 10% of his class. He was admitted to the California Bar in 2009.
While at Whittier Law School, Matt was chosen as the “Best Oral Advocate” of the 3rd Annual Susan E. McGuigan Oral Advocacy Competition. Matt competed in numerous other oral advocacy competitions on behalf of both the Trial Advocacy Honors Board and Moot Court Honors Board during his time at Whittier Law School. In 2008, Matt was selected as the Chief Justice of the Moot Court Honors Board and served in that position from 2008 till his graduation in 2009. Matt also continues to serve as a guest coach and judge for oral advocacy teams competing through Whittier Law School’s Trial Advocacy Honors Board and Moot Court Honors Board.
Matt was also a graduating member of Whittier’s prestigious Law Review, where he assisted in the editing and publication of numerous scholarly legal articles. In addition, Matt’s own article was published in the Whittier Law Review in Fall 2008 (Volume 30, Number 1). Matt’s article, “Disparate Outcomes Among Medical Malpractice Victims: A New Look at an Equal Protection Challenge to MICRA,” allowed him to passionately address the continuing problems that MICRA poses to California medical malpractice victims, which is an issue he has seen the effects of first-hand through his work at Easton & Easton.
Over the past several years with Easton & Easton, Matt’s law school success has translated into litigation success on behalf of the hundreds of plaintiffs that he has already represented in that time period. Matt has now litigated cases against the State of California, numerous cities, numerous school districts, and countless large corporate entities and other defendants.
Matt was recently instrumental in securing a negotiated settlement of $2.75 Million for the wrongful death of an unmarried 55-year-old man whose only surviving heirs were his 80-year-old parents. In the past year, Matt acquired a confidential mediated settlement of $350,000 for a slip and fall case against a big box chain store; a confidential settlement of $250,000 for a client who was struck by a wooden stick by an actor in a Halloween maze; $185,000 against Walnut Valley Unified School District in a difficult premises liability case wherein the medical bills were only $25,000; and a mediated settlement of $175,000 against the State of California for an extremely difficult and hard fought bicycle roadway defect accident.
Matt also negotiated a significant settlement with members of the Disney Corporation in a product liability case where a Disney watch had burned the wrist of Matt’s 4-year-old client. While the amount of that settlement remains confidential, it can be said that the total settlement amount was more than 50 times the medical bills in that case. Matt has also experienced great trial success in recent years, receiving several verdicts in excess of the Section 998 Pre-Trial Offers (meaning the jury paid his client more than they had offered to settle the case for before trial). These are but a few examples of the type of success that Matt has brought to his client’s cases over the past several years with Easton & Easton. In recognition of these remarkable results on behalf of his clients, Matt became a full partner at Easton & Easton, LLP in 2014.
Matt is the second youngest son of Doug and Rae Easton and has grown up most of his life with the strong desire to work with his father in providing passionate service to the legal community. Matt spent almost every summer since High School working for his father’s law firm in various capacities and, in doing so, he saw how lawyers like his father can really help the ordinary person achieve extraordinary and needed aid in their individual lives. This inspired Matt to become a lawyer and join his father’s practice in the pursuit of helping the ordinary man achieve justice, no matter how big of a goliath he may be facing off against.
While Matt grew up in Orange County and has a strong love for the community here, he also spent two years abroad in Mexico City on a mission for his church. There he sincerely fell in love with the Hispanic culture and the people that so warmly welcomed him into their lives. He also became fluent in Spanish, which has allowed him to help clients in Southern California that do not speak English.
Matt is also and Eagle Scout and continues to enjoy many outdoor activities including camping, snow skiing, rock climbing, and wakeboarding. Matt has a strong sense of family commitment, much like his parents, and truly feels blessed to work alongside his father and brother. In addition, Matt and his wife Rachel recently had their first child, a son named Ronan William Easton.
