Our Attorneys

Contact Matt
  • Miner, Barnhill & Galland, P.C.
    325 N. LaSalle St. Suite 350
    Chicago, IL 60654
  • (312) 751-1170

Education

  • Stanford Law School, J.D. (2014) – Honors: Senior Editor, Stanford Law Review; Pro Bono Distinction; Gerald Gunther Prize; John Hart Ely Prize
  • University of Michigan, B.A. (2008) – Honors: Summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa

Matthew Owens joined Miner, Barnhill & Galland following judicial clerkships with a federal district judge and a federal appellate judge. He has represented plaintiffs in civil rights, consumer protection, wage and hour, and environmental justice cases, including:

  • A disparate-impact case alleging race discrimination in property tax assessment;
  • A wage-and-hour class action alleging minimum wage violations by a private detention facility;
  • Race and sex discrimination cases on behalf of individual plaintiffs; and
  • Environmental class actions to protect people and their property from corporate polluters.

Matt is a graduate of Stanford Law School. During law school, he worked at a pro bono legal clinic, where he defended tenants from unlawful evictions and recovered unpaid wages for workers, including a class action to compensate more than 2,400 janitors for minimum wage violations. Outside of his work at the clinic, Matt served as a senior editor for the Stanford Law Review and provided research assistance for a poverty law textbook.

Between college and law school, Matt worked at the State Department’s anti-human trafficking office, which leads the U.S. government’s international efforts to combat modern slavery. Matt graduated summa cum laude from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in philosophy and political science.

Community Service Activities

Matt is a volunteer attorney for the Election Protection program run by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, which works to eliminate barriers to voting and civic participation. He also serves on the Chicago Council of Lawyers, a public interest bar association dedicated to achieving a justice system that is accessible, effective, and fair.


Bar Admissions

Illinois Supreme Court (2014)

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (2015)

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (2015)

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2017)

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (2019)


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