Matthew Engle '08

Tell us about life after law school.

After graduating from Boyd, I moved to Phoenix, Arizona. I am currently a shareholder in the business transactions practice group at Gallagher & Kennedy, focusing on corporate transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and securities law. My practice ranges from helping individuals form a new business, preparing SEC filings for publicly-traded companies, working with large corporations on M&A deals, and everything in between. One of the fun things about being a business attorney is the variety of work that spans multiple disciplines.

What are some of the highlights of your career so far?

Early in my legal career, I had the good fortune to join the Arizona State Bar’s Business Section Legislative Subcommittee, which was embarking on a major project to draft a comprehensive revision of Arizona’s limited liability company act. I was by far the most junior lawyer on a committee of about 15 prominent Phoenix business attorneys. After a seven-year drafting effort, the revised LLC act was signed into law in 2018. It was a terrific learning experience and a real master class on LLC law. I can now say that I am one of the drafters of a major piece of Arizona business law.

Serving on that committee also opened several doors. For example, in 2018 a well-known business attorney, Richard Onsager, invited me to be his co-author on his highly-respected legal treatise, Arizona Limited Liability Company: Forms and Practice Manual, published by Data Trace Publishing. The first edition I co-authored came out last year. Now, we are hard at work on new edition for 2019, based on the new LLC act.

Being one of the drafters of the LLC act also led to speaking engagements and articles, including one in the March issue of Arizona Attorney magazine discussing the new LLC fiduciary duties provisions.

What do you like to do outside of practicing law?

My background is different from most lawyers. Before law school, I produced and designed video games and computer software. And before that, I worked in the film and TV business. So I have a creative side I enjoy nurturing by attending concerts, going to museums, and experiencing cultures around the world.

Because of this, I decided to focus my volunteer efforts in Phoenix on helping grow the City’s arts and culture community. Among other things, I co-founded the Phoenix Symphony Young Professionals, a group that helps build interest and awareness of the Phoenix Symphony among the next generation of valley leaders. I was also appointed by then-mayor Greg Stanton to serve on the City of Phoenix Arts and Culture Commission. These volunteer efforts have led to me being profiled in a number of local publications. For example, I received an “Arts Hero” award from ON Media Publications, which ran a profile appearing in about 200,000 program books for all the City’s major arts organizations. While not the intention, it is rewarding that my personal interests have led to some recognition as well.