Experienced complex and class action litigator in employment, commercial business disputes and transportation matters

Matt Drenan advises local, national and international clients on a wide range of labor, employment, transportation, logistics and commercial litigation matters, including single plaintiff, complex, class and representative action defense in both state and federal court. He is deeply experienced handling wage and hour compliance, class actions, Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) litigation, single-plaintiff wage and hour disputes, and matters related to pay equity, discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, retaliation, religious exemption, executive compensation, federal and state leave law, and more. Matt has represented individuals and both for-profit and nonprofit companies in an array of industries, including:

• Maritime, oil and gas
• Logistics and transportation
• Construction and plumbing
• Agribusiness, food and hospitality, breweries and California wineries
• Technology, education and banking
• Pharmaceutical and healthcare
• Health clubs and retail

Matt also is a highly respected transportation and maritime attorney with international experience representing multinational shipping, energy, and oil and gas companies in litigation matters, regulatory compliance, incident investigations and pollution response. He is specifically adept at Carmack and related transportation litigation under the FAAAA, representing both shippers and carriers.

Matt is a creative and competitive litigator who acts as a fierce advocate from case inception to completion. He is adept at formulating client-specific, results-oriented strategies, consistent with the respective venue and substantive complexity. Clients appreciate Matt's out-of-the box thinking, entrepreneurial settlement style and subtle sense of humor.

Prior to joining Quarles, Matt worked for Am Law 100 and Am Law 200 law firms throughout California, where he represented business entities, executives and related stakeholders in in a wide range of industries.

Bar Admissions

• California

Education

• Tulane University Law School (LL.M., with distinction )
  • Graduated first overall in his class
  • Edward A. Dodd Jr. Scholarship Award, recipient
  • Tulane Maritime Law Journal, editor
  • Tulane Maritime Law Center Scholarship Award
  • CALI Excellence for the Future Award for Carriage of Goods by Sea

• California Western School of Law (J.D.)
  • California Western Law Review and International Law Journal, editor
  • S. Houston Lay Scholarship Award for the most outstanding comment in the California Western International Law Journal
  • Jessup Moot Court Competition team, member
  • Top Oralist award for performance in Pacific Super Regional

• Johns Hopkins University (B.A.)
  • Men’s lacrosse, 2007 Division, National Championship team

• Breaking Down the Bumbershoot: Energy and Marine Umbrella Policies in the Wake of Indemnity Insurance Co. of North America v. W&T Offshore
• Captaining the Ship Into Culpability: Barbetta, Franza, and the Efficacy of Imputing Liability to Corporate Shipowners in the Medical Malpractice Context
• Gone Overboard: Why the Arctic Sunrise Case Signals an Over-Expansion of the Ship-As-A-Unit Concept in the Diplomatic Protection Context
• Matt Drenan, Pouch Liang Outline Employer Obligations Under California's New Workplace Know Your Rights Act in Daily Journal Article
• The Ninth Circuit Writes an Obituary For Section 903(c) of the LHWCA in Kealoha v. Director, Office of Workers Compensation Programs, Tulane Maritime Law Journal, Vol. 39, February 28, 2015
• Virtual MCLE - Current Issues in California Employment
• Watchdogs of the World: Global Liner Conference Regulators in the Modern Shipping Market and Why the P3 Agreement Failed