Matthew Tharp

Matt Tharp represents companies in lawsuits involving the federal securities laws, contract disputes, and other complex civil litigation. His practice also involves pre-litigation advisory matters and counseling clients on their discovery obligations in connection with non-party subpoenas.

Prior to joining Friedman Kaplan, Matt was a litigation associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP where he regularly defended both issuers and underwriters against putative securities class actions. Before that, he clerked for the Honorable Gabriel W. Gorenstein of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. During his final semester of law school, Matt served as a fulltime extern to the Honorable Naomi Reice Buchwald of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Representative Matters

• Representation of a group of lenders holding over $600 million of first-lien debt in Serta Simmons Bedding in a closely watched lawsuit in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas challenging the validity and legality of the company’s uptier transaction with another group of lenders.
• Representation of a creditor of PG&E in prosecuting a nine-figure securities fraud claim in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California alleging misstatements by PG&E about its wildfire safety and transmission infrastructure maintenance practices prior to the company’s Chapter 11 filing.
• In an employment discrimination action against a global asset management firm, obtained dismissal on summary judgment of all claims by the District Court and affirmance by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. 
• Representation of an alternative investment advisory firm in responding to multiple non-party subpoenas and related motion practice involving protection of the client’s proprietary business information.
• Representation of a major law firm and one of its partners in defense of alleged legal malpractice claims in which the plaintiff seeks approximately $60 million.

Outside the Office

Matt is a member of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity’s 2025 class of Pathfinders.