Matt Ball is a litigation associate in the Denver office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.  He is a member of the firm’s Appellate and Constitutional Law and White Collar Defense and Investigations practice groups.  Mr. Ball has successfully represented clients across state and federal trial and appellate courts, and has argued appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Sixth Circuit, and the Colorado Court of Appeals.  Mr. Ball was recognized by Law Week Colorado as an Up and Coming Lawyer in 2023.

Highlights include:

• Successfully defending against a challenge to the Governor of California’s authority to certify a baseball stadium development project for streamlined review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).  Pacific Merchant Shipping Association v. Newsom, 67 Cal. App. 5th 711 (2021).
• Persuading the California Court of Appeal that the California Insurance Commissioner had impermissibly ordered a retroactive refund of premiums to policyholders.  State Farm General Insurance Company v. Lara, 71 Cal. App. 5th 148 (2021).
• Winning a nine-figure construction-law and attorneys’-fees dispute in the California Court of Appeal.  San Francisco CDC LLC v. Webcor Construction L.P., 62 Cal. App. 5th 266 (2021).
• Persuading the Los Angeles Superior Court, on post-trial motions, to order an 87% reduction of a nine-figure verdict, cutting punitive damages by over $130 million.
• Representing a major energy company in negotiating a national agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice resolving a three-year investigation.

Mr. Ball also maintains an active pro bono practice, with a focus on criminal defense and immigration matters. Highlights include:

• Obtaining reversal of an order to remove a lawful permanent resident on a novel question of federal statutory law in the Ninth Circuit.  Togonon v. Garland, 23 F.4th 876 (9th Cir. 2022).
• Representing a defendant on an appeal concerning the intersection between a state marijuana-legalization regime and reasonable suspicion of a marijuana-based offense.  United States v. Whitley, 34 F.4th 522 (6th Cir. 2022).
• Successfully petitioning the Colorado Supreme Court for certiorari review of a homicide conviction in a case involving claims of actual innocence.  Kennedy v. People, No. 21SC662, 2022 WL 1086935 (Colo. Apr. 11, 2022).

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Ball served as a law clerk for the Honorable Carlos T. Bea of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mr. Ball graduated from Stanford Law School in 2018, where he was a member of the Stanford Supreme Court Clinic and won Best Oralist in the Kirkwood Moot Court Competition.  While in law school, Mr. Ball also served as co-president of the International Refugee Assistance Project.  Mr. Ball received his B.A. from Wesleyan University in 2008.

Before attending law school, Mr. Ball was an officer in the United States Army, where he served as an Army Ranger, deployed four times, and received two Bronze Star Medals.  Mr. Ball continues to serve as a Major in the Army Reserves.

Mr. Ball is admitted to practice in Colorado and California.