DENVER – Ford & Harrison LLP, a national labor and employment law firm, announces the addition of Matthew J. Rita as a partner in the firm's Denver office. Mr. Rita is a former partner of Holme Roberts & Owen LLP in Denver.
Mr. Rita's primary practice area is complex commercial litigation at both the trial and appellate levels, with substantial experience in the employment law arena. The matters he has handled have involved a broad range of issues, such as Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower complaints, charges of age discrimination, harassment allegations, trade secret disputes, qui tam litigation, and contract cases. Mr. Rita has represented numerous clients before federal and state courts and agencies, as well as in arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution proceedings. His courtroom victories have included a multi-million-dollar jury verdict on a breach-of-contract counterclaim, and the successful defense of a high-profile lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In addition to serving as an advocate in adversarial contexts, Mr. Rita provides substantive legal advice and counseling on an ongoing basis. He strives to keep clients apprised of developments in the law, both informally and through publications and presentations. Last fall Mr. Rita published an article entitled "Family Responsibilities Discrimination: An Evolving Theory Under Federal Law." More recently, he presented a national webinar on new Federal Rule of Evidence 502.
Mr. Rita is admitted to practice before all state and federal courts in both Colorado and Massachusetts, as well as before the United States Supreme Court. He is a member of the American Bar Association's Litigation Section, through which he serves on the Committees on Employment & Labor Relations, Ethics & Professionalism, and Pretrial Practice & Discovery. He is also a member of the Colorado and Denver Bar Associations, for which he has advanced public legal education efforts by volunteering as a classroom presenter in the Denver Public Schools. Mr. Rita also counts among his memberships the Catholic Lawyers Guild, the Faculty of Federal Advocates, and the board of the Colorado Judicial Institute, which is dedicated to judicial independence and excellence.
"I am thrilled that Matt decided to join our firm," said Peter Munger, managing partner of Ford & Harrison's Denver office. "His expertise on issues related to employment law and commercial litigation will be of great benefit to our firm."
After graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science degree, Mr. Rita received his J.D., cum laude, from Cornell Law School in 1992. He was honored with the Herbert R. Reif Prize for writing an article on employment taxes which best exemplified the skillful use of the English language in writing about the law. He also served on the Board of Editors for the Cornell Law Review. Following law school and before entering private practice, Mr. Rita was a judicial law clerk for Chief Judge Joseph L. Tauro of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.