Our Latest Featured Speaker is Matthew C. Slentz!
Our latest Featured Speaker is Matthew C. Slentz of Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley, PC!
Matt is speaking at our Winning Motions for Summary Judgment: From Discovery Strategy to Persuasive Writing (CA & Federal), on November 5, 2026!
This focused program is designed to give you a clear, practical understanding of how to approach summary judgment motions in both California state and federal courts, with an emphasis on what actually works in practice.
Hon. Kira L. Klatchko (Ret.), a former California Superior Court judge now in ADR with JAMS, comments throughout the program. Judge Klatchko served nine years on the Superior Court of California, Riverside County, including seven years presiding over an unlimited civil department, where she managed thousands of cases from inception through resolution. She also twice served as a justice pro tempore on the California Court of Appeal, Second District.
Matt opens the program on November 5, co-teaching “Federal Court vs. State Court” with Jesse Lanier. The session covers the standards, starting with FRCP 56 and the two theories for winning summary judgment, “traditional” motions vs. Celotex motions. It also covers the two theories for opposing summary judgment, disputes of fact vs. differing inferences from undisputed facts (the “reasonable jury” standard), as well as the big differences and practical differences between federal and state court.
He then teaches “Discovery for Summary Judgment,” which addresses creating undisputed facts through requests to admit, depositions, and interrogatories, along with admissibility issues; creating disputes of fact by responding to written discovery, depositions, and affidavits; and exercises identifying disputed vs. undisputed facts.
If your attorneys can’t attend live, the full program is available via OnDemand Streaming or Recorded Package Downloads. Group licenses are available for firms and agencies.
Click here for full details and registration.
Matt has spoken for us many times, including at our Superior Court Boot Camp, The Art of Jury Selection in California, and Writs of Administrative Mandamus 101 (CA), and most recently at our Preserving the Trial Record for Appeal (CA) program this January. Attendees consistently describe him as a knowledgeable and informative speaker.
Matthew is Senior Counsel with Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley’s litigation practice group and resident in the firm’s Pasadena office. Matthew litigates a range of disputes for public agency clients in both trial and appellate courts, including suits involving inverse condemnation, utility user taxes, Public Records Act disputes, post-redevelopment disputes, rates and fees, government contracts, land use and cannabis regulation.
Before joining the firm, Matthew served as Chief Deputy Public Defender for Stanislaus County. In this role, Matthew managed a team of attorneys defending misdemeanor cases, including violations of local ordinances, coordinated with city and county officials on nuisance abatement strategies, and helped formulate his agency’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a deputy public defender, Matthew conducted 25 jury trials to verdict in felony and misdemeanor cases. He has filed writs and appeals in local and appellate courts and has extensive motion practice, including Pitchess motions and Cervantes hearings.
While in law school, Matthew worked as a legal assistant for the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Inspector General. He also served as the Executive Senior Editor for the Georgetown Journal of International Law and on the board of the Equal Justice Foundation.
Matthew graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center. At graduation, he received the Alan Goldstein Award for excellence in criminal defense and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of California, Irvine, where he was a Regents’ Scholar and graduated with Scholastic Merit.
Welcome back, Matt! We’re excited to have you with us on November 5.
