Overview
Matthew (Matt) Madden is a first-chair trial lawyer who has tried more than 25 federal criminal trials. The former chief of the Criminal Division of the US Attorney’s Office (USAO) in Chicago, he leverages his more than 15 years with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) when handling white-collar and regulatory enforcement matters, internal investigations, compliance matters and complex civil litigation for clients.
Matt co-leads McDermott’s criminal investigations and prosecutions practice. He previously held numerous supervisory positions at the USAO, including criminal chief, chief of general crimes and deputy chief of financial crimes. As criminal chief, he led approximately 125 assistant US attorneys in the Criminal Division, supervised the USAO’s most complex, high-profile investigations, and oversaw the implementation and development of the USAO’s policies.
During his tenure as a federal prosecutor, Matt was regarded as one of the top trial lawyers at the USAO. He recently led the successful 11-week trial against the former senior executives of Outcome Health for a $1 billion corporate, bank and investor fraud scheme in a case that Crain’s Chicago Business called “one of the most high-profile and lengthy white-collar cases in Chicago history” and “a high-profile victory for the federal prosecutors in a complex and messy case that was largely circumstantial.” During another year, Matt tried eight cases, seven as first chair. He is also a seasoned appellate lawyer, having handled more than 15 appeals before the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, with 10 oral arguments.
Matt has led and supervised dozens of trials and hundreds of investigations involving nearly every type of federal criminal offense, including securities fraud, healthcare fraud, insider trading, money laundering, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act offenses, cybercrimes, bank fraud, mail and wire fraud, and terrorism. He worked closely with DOJ Criminal Division components, including the Fraud Section, and conducted numerous grand jury investigations that involved parallel securities fraud investigations by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Matt’s extensive experience and deep government ties are instrumental to advising clients facing government enforcement matters.
Before joining the USAO, Matt was an associate at McDermott and clerked for Judge Larry J. McKinney of the US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana and Judge William J. Bauer of the Seventh Circuit. In addition to his legal practice, he is guest faculty for trial advocacy at the University of Chicago Law School and has served in other faculty positions at law schools and the DOJ National Advocacy Center throughout his career.
Results
- Led the investigation, prosecution, and 11-week trial of the former CEO, President, and CFO of Outcome Health for a $1 billion fraud scheme, which included negotiation of a non-prosecution agreement with the company, work in parallel with the SEC during a two-year investigation that gathered more than 10 million documents, and presentation of four-hour rebuttal argument to jury after more than 20 hours of defense closing arguments, after which the presiding district court judge, in complimenting both the government attorneys and the defense attorneys, said, “in 45 years, I haven’t seen a performance like this, ever. . . the work the attorneys did in this case, at least in my judgment with the experience I’ve had, this is unparalleled”*
- Successfully tried a bank fraud case against a prominent real estate developer involving a $105 million line of credit*
- Successfully tried a healthcare fraud case against a healthcare business owner*
- Represented the former CFO of a government contractor in criminal and SEC cases related to alleged stock options backdating
- Represented a major food service retailer in multidistrict class action litigation related to alleged allergen content in food products
- Led the prosecution and successful trial against a Cook County judge on mortgage fraud charges*
- Led the securities fraud prosecution of former CEO and CFO of information technology software company*
- Successfully tried an investment company sales executive in $28 million investor fraud prosecution*
- Led the successful trial against pastor and wife who defrauded the state of Illinois childcare subsidy program*
- Investigated and prosecuted more than 40 individuals on public corruption, passport fraud and identity theft charges in scheme involving bribes paid to Illinois Secretary of State employees*
- Investigated and prosecuted more than 40 individuals on violent crimes charges after long-term investigation of Traveling Vice Lords gang following murder of Chicago Police Department detective, and served as trial counsel on seven trials and dozens of hearings related to investigation*
*Matter handled prior to joining McDermott.
Recognitions
- DOJ Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service for the Outcome Health prosecution and trial
- Chicago Crime Commission Award for long-term investigation of violent street gang stemming from murder of Chicago Police Department detective
- Special Commendation Award from Chicago Police Department for making significant impact on public safety and crime prevention
Credentials
Education
University of Illinois College of Law, JD, magna cum laude, 2002
University of Notre Dame, BA, cum laude, 1996
Admissions
Illinois
Courts / Agencies
US District Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Trial Bar)
Languages
English
Spanish
