-
Matthew O. Wagner
Member
Cincinnati, OH
Member
Cincinnati, OH
Matt helps businesses solve people problems. As an employment counselor, Matt guides his clients through employment law compliance issues, including hiring and firing, employment policies, wage & hour compliance, and I-9 employment authorization compliance. He has spent considerable time counseling clients with respect to legal questions unique to transgender employees, and other cutting-edge legal issues, and has experience with personnel issues unique to the healthcare field. An experienced litigator, Matt has defended family businesses, government agencies, and Fortune 500 companies in state and federal courts against discrimination, wage & hour, breach of contract and a variety of other employment-related claims and appeals.
Matt also counsels clients on legal problems that arise when companies—and their people—cross international borders. Matt handles all aspects of employment-based immigration, including obtaining work visas and green cards for his clients’ foreign-born talent, and helping entrepreneurs and companies opening U.S. offices obtain work visas for owners or key management personnel. Matt also advises clients on international personnel issues, including structuring employment, secondment and contractor relationships, personnel agreements, and income and corporate taxation issues that arise from moving or hiring personnel across international lines.
Prior to joining the firm, Matt served as Production Manager at a large book and magazine publishing company based in Cincinnati, Ohio. There he handled production, purchasing, logistics, and content translation, working closely with vendors and customers in the U.S.A., China, Singapore, Europe, and South Africa.
A Louisville native, Matt earned a B.A. in English from Xavier University with a Theater minor, and he was a founding member of an improvisational comedy troupe. He earned his law degree from the University of Cincinnati, where he was Managing Editor of the Law Review, a member of the editorial staff of the renowned Human Rights Quarterly, and earned several academic distinctions. He has published legal articles in the areas of civil procedure and government regulation. Matt has performed with the Cincinnati Young Professionals Choral Collective pop choir group, sits on the board of the Denny Buehler Memorial Foundation, which raises money for financially distressed families facing catastrophic medical bills, and serves on the Young Professionals Board for Pro Bono Partnership of Ohio, which is dedicated to providing legal services to nonprofits making a difference in our community.
December 18, 2020
December 9, 2020
September 10, 2020
University of Cincinnati College of Law, J.D., 2012, Summa Cum Laude
Managing Editor, University of Cincinnati Law Review, 2011-2012
Editorial Staff, Human Rights Quarterly, 2009-2012
Xavier University, B.A, 2001, English, Cum Laude
Legal Intern for Honorable Chief Judge Susan J. Dlott, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, 2011
Federal District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
Order of the Coif, 2012
Norbert Heinsheimer Law Review Prize, 2012
George A. Dornette PR/Ethics Award, 2011
Henry A. Morrill Constitutional Law Prize, 2009
Ernest Karam Academic Achievement Award, 2009
Cincinnati Bar Association
Ohio Bar Association
American Bar Association
American Immigration Lawyers Association
GROW PBP – Pro Bono Partnership
Denny Buehler Memorial Foundation
Cincinnati Young Professionals Choral Collective
Junior Achievement Teacher, 2013
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA), 2012
Fixing Perlman: How the Misapplication of a 100 Year Old Doctrine Threatens to Undermine, Mohawk Industries, Inc. v. Carpenter, 79 University of Cincinnati Law Review 1631 (2011).
Beyond Son of Sam: Assessing Government’s First Tentative Steps Towards Regulating the Third-Party Murderabilia Marketplace, 80 University of Cincinnati Law Review 977 (2012).