Matt Sawchak Elected to American Academy of Appellate Lawyers

Matthew W. Sawchak

Ellis & Winters LLP is pleased to announce that Matt Sawchak has been elected as a member of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers.

The American Academy of Appellate Lawyers recognizes outstanding appellate lawyers and promotes appellate advocacy.  To be eligible for membership in the Academy, a nominee must have substantially focused his or her practice on appeals during the last 15 years or more.  

Membership in the Academy is by invitation only.  Academy membership is limited to 500 total members.  Mr. Sawchak is one of only four Academy members in North Carolina.

Mr. Sawchak has more than 25 years of experience as an appellate lawyer.  The North Carolina State Bar has named him as a board-certified specialist in appellate practice.  He has chaired the North Carolina Bar Association’s Appellate Rules Committee, which makes recommendations to the North Carolina Supreme Court on issues of appellate procedure.

Mr. Sawchak is profiled as a Litigation Star in the current edition of Benchmark Litigation.  He also appears in the 2016 editions of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, North Carolina SuperLawyers, and Best Lawyers in America.  Best Lawyers has twice named Mr. Sawchak as a Lawyer of the Year in appellate practice.

Parties often hire Mr. Sawchak as new or additional counsel on appeal.  In recent years, several government agencies have retained Mr. Sawchak to handle their appeals in especially important cases.

Mr. Sawchak graduated with honors from Harvard University, where he was a National Merit Scholar.  He earned his J.D. and LL.M. with honors from Duke Law School, where he was the editor-in-chief of the Duke Law Journal. 

Mr. Sawchak clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas when Justice Thomas served on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.  Before his judicial clerkship, he clerked in the Office of the Solicitor General of the United States.