Matthew D. Peng

In cases where early resolution cannot be reached, Matthew has helped his clients obtain favorable results as lead lawyer through pinpoint discovery, focused motion practice, and methodical evidence presentation at trial and arbitration hearings. Matthew served as lead trial lawyer in a bench trial for a multibillion-dollar developer in a termination and mechanic’s lien dispute in California. He was first chair in an arbitration representing a national infrastructure company in a payment dispute against the California Department of Transportation. Matthew also second-chaired multiple arbitrations in San Francisco and New York representing a national infrastructure engineering and design firm.

Matthew has represented a variety of companies and professionals in the construction industry, including developers, general contractors, design professionals, and specialty subcontractors. He has litigated disputes arising out of public works projects and public-private partnership projects, and has defended and prosecuted payment disputes, quantity-overrun claims, mechanic’s lien issues, and construction-defect matters. Matthew’s transactional experience includes extensive contract drafting and review for developers, general contractors, and commercial supplies and equipment companies. He also guides his clients through insurance-related matters such as errors and omissions coverage, indemnity and defense obligations, and policy coverage requirements.

Matthew represents transportation clients and has extensive experience defending transportation brokers in both intrastate and interstate transportation matters. He has dealt with a broad variety of issues that are pervasive in the transportation industry, including limitation of liability, negligent hiring and retention, vicarious liability (principal-agent and employer-employee claims), nondelegable duty, tracking and fines, and accident reconstruction. Matthew has won summary judgment on behalf of national freight brokers and logistics companies, and he also counsels and works closely with London-based underwriters on major catastrophic claims throughout the United States.

Matthew has also successfully represented maritime clients, obtaining an early dismissal for an international ship operator in federal court. His clients include Fortune 50 companies as well as oil platform owners and operators facing issues arising out of platform decommissioning projects. Matthew regularly served as monitoring counsel for major insurers on substantial claims with damages in the tens of millions of dollars.

During law school, Matthew served as a senior editor on the UC Davis Law Review and clerked for a superior court judge in San Francisco. He also completed externships at several federal agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the United States Department of Labor. Matthew has been invited by the American Bar Association and the Bar Association of San Francisco to speak on various topics, including wrongful termination on construction projects, construction delays, COVID-19 impacts, and labor shortages.