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Matt Sawchak Publishes Article on Unfair Trade Practices in North Carolina Law Review

Ellis Winters

Ellis & Winters


Matthew W. Sawchak

Ellis & Winters partner Matt Sawchak has published an article, Refining Per Se Unfair Trade Practices, in the most recent issue of North Carolina Law Review. This is the second article Mr. Sawchak has written or co-authored in the North Carolina Law Review on the law of unfair and deceptive trade practices. He is the chief editor of What’s Fair?, a blog on this subject.

Sawchak’s article addresses “per se violations” of North Carolina’s unfair-trade-practices statute, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 75—1.1.  A per se violation occurs when actions that violate a standard outside of section 75—1.1 automatically violate section 75—1.1 as well.  A per se theory has a powerful effect:  it turns a claim that offers only single damages into a claim that offers treble damages and possible attorney fees.

In the article, Sawchak shows that courts have not yet developed reliable standards to decide when per se violations will and not arise.  He proposes ways for courts to sharpen the per se theory. 

Sawchak focuses his practice on business litigation, antitrust, and appeals. Business North Carolina magazine has profiled him twice as the top antitrust lawyer in North Carolina. North Carolina Super Lawyers lists him as one of the top ten overall lawyers in North Carolina. Sawchak is also profiled as a Litigation Star in the current editions of Benchmark Litigation and Benchmark Appellate. He appears in North Carolina Super LawyersChambers USA, and Best Lawyers in America. He is a State Bar-certified specialist in appellate practice.

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. He was the editor-in-chief of the Duke Law Journal.

Sawchak served as a law clerk 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.

October 8, 2014
Posted in  News