MATT BLUMENTHAL

Matt is a passionate advocate, driven by a commitment to justice, empathy, and a desire to improve the lives of others. He previously served as a law clerk to Diane P. Wood, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Matt is a 2015 graduate of Yale Law School, where he served as President of the Yale Law Veterans Association, a Features Editor of the Yale Journal of International Law, a teaching assistant for first-year Civil Procedure, and interned at the U.S. Department of Justice.

During his time at Yale, Matt worked in the Veterans Legal Services Clinic, where he successfully represented two veterans in administrative proceedings and helped write a report that resulted in Connecticut legislation streamlining occupational licensing for veterans. He also helped represent, on behalf of the International Refugee Assistance Project, an Afghan interpreter whose work with U.S. forces caused him to live under constant Taliban threat. Matt's team helped the interpreter obtain special immigrant visas for himself and his family. The interpreter and his family arrived in the United States in late January 2017-just as the Trump administration's now-blocked travel ban went into effect.

Before law school, Matt served as an Infantry Officer in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, commanding a rifle platoon in Charlie Company, First Battalion, Twenty-Fifth Marines. He served roughly two and a half years on active duty and deployed to Marjah, Afghanistan, as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. Matt graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a B.A. in History and Literature.