Matt Gilligan’s practice focuses exclusively on employment law and litigation. He has successfully defended employers in all types of employment-related litigation, including discrimination and other civil rights cases, wage and hour actions, whistleblower claims, and restrictive covenant matters. He regularly counsels employers on compliance with employment laws, and has extensive experience defending employers in government investigations, including state and federal OSHA investigations and U.S. DOL wage and hour audits.
Before founding Hall, Gilligan, Roberts & Shanlever LLP, Matt was a Partner at Alston & Bird LLP (a national Am Law 100 firm). He is recognized by SuperLawyers® as a “Georgia Super Lawyer” (employment law), by Best Lawyers in America® (employment law), Best Lawyers in Georgia, and by Georgia Trend Magazine’s “Legal Elite.”
Matt is a frequent lecturer on employment law and related human resources topics, and he has published articles on employment law and other legal topics in various national publications. He has been quoted on employment law topics in FORTUNE magazine, CNNMoney.com, FORTUNE Small Business, NYTimes.com, Employment360, BNA’s Workforce Strategies, Thompson’s FMLA Handbook, and Thompson’s Leave & Disability Coordination Handbook.
Matt is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy (West Point), where he was a Distinguished Cadet (top 5 percent). He received his J.D. from University of Georgia School of Law, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Georgia Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. He earned a Master of Laws degree (LL.M.) from the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s School, where he was Honor Graduate. Matt attended boarding school at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.
Matt is a retired Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army (JAG Corps). He served 14 years on active duty and 8 in the Army Reserves, first in the combat arms (Infantry) and then as a Judge Advocate in various positions, including litigation attorney and criminal prosecutor in military courts-martial. Matt is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command & General Staff College, he was awarded the Expert Infantryman’s Badge, and was an Airborne- and Air Assault-qualified U.S. Army Ranger.