Matthew H. Hawes

Associate

Matthew H. Hawes is an associate in Morgan Lewis's Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice. Mr. Hawes's practice involves every aspect of employee benefits, executive and equity compensation, and related areas. He handles a variety of employee benefit matters, including the drafting and design of qualified pension and profit-sharing plans, health and welfare arrangements, deferred compensation plans, and employment agreements. Additionally, Mr. Hawes focuses on regulatory compliance with the Internal Revenue Code, ERISA, COBRA, and HIPAA, and performs due diligence reviews of employee benefits issues in conjunction with mergers and acquisitions.

Prior to joining Morgan Lewis, Mr. Hawes served as a law clerk for Judge Susan P. Graber of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Mr. Hawes also was an associate in the tax group of a New York-based law firm. As a tax associate, Mr. Hawes advised clients on U.S. federal tax issues, including the consequences of capital markets transactions, private equity investments, and mergers and acquisitions, and aided clients in tax controversy matters before the Internal Revenue Service and federal courts.

Mr. Hawes earned his J.D., summa cum laude, from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 2003, where he was named to the Order of the Coif and served as senior research editor for the University of Pittsburgh Law Review. While in law school, Mr. Hawes was an inaugural Cohen & Grigsby Fellow and the recipient of both the Faculty Award for Excellence in Legal Scholarship and the Law School Community Service Award.

Prior to pursuing his law degree, Mr. Hawes served as an officer in the U.S. Navy for more than four years, earning the rank of lieutenant. His duties included service onboard the U.S.S. Inchon (MCS-12) as the Weapons Officer, Assistant First Lieutenant, and Combat Information Center Officer; and service with the 5th Battalion, 10th Marines, 2d Marine Division, both in Camp Lejeune, N.C. and abroad, as a Naval Gunfire Liaison Officer assigned to Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and as an Artillery Liaison Officer.

Mr. Hawes earned his B.A., cum laude, in political science from the University of Rochester in 1995.

Mr. Hawes is admitted to practice in New York only.