BakerHostetler
Alumni Login
| Subscribe | Print
Open search/close search button Open menu/close menu button
Services
Professionals
About Us
Offices
News/Resources
Diversity
Careers
Alumni

Matthew W. Hoyt

Partner

Columbus
T +1.614.462.2650
F +1.614.462.2616
mhoyt@bakerlaw.com
Download Vcard LinkedIn

Overview

Matt Hoyt combines employment law knowledge, jury trial experience and a proven track record in business immigration matters to offer clients a comprehensive approach to workplace issues. Matt seeks not just to react to requests for legal advice, but to be proactive and make every effort to provide clients with important information in advance so that business decisions are informed and optimal. Matt offers an attorney-driven focus on each immigration matter and applies a 360-degree approach, ensuring not only that visas and green cards are successfully processed, but that matters are handled timely, efficiently and with a zero tolerance policy of strict compliance.

Matt is a frequent speaker and author on topical employment and immigration developments, including through BakerHostetler’s “Employment Law Spotlight” blog. Matt is also a contributing author to Mergers & Acquisitions in the United States: A Practical Guide for Non-U.S. Buyers, a treatise for Aspen Publishers by Elliot J. Feldman. He is also the coordinator of the Employment & Labor Practice Group for the Columbus office.

Select Experience

  • Defended a Fortune 500 client at trial against alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for failure to accommodate, discrimination and retaliation. The trial was one of the few to involve the “cat’s paw” theory of liability under the ADA since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Staub v. Proctor Hospital. 
  • Has obtained O-1 extraordinary ability work visas for executives of major financial services companies, J-1 visa waivers for foreign physicians, E-2 visas for foreign investors, and hundreds of H-1B and L-1 work visas in specialties ranging from information technology to hospitality to health care. In this context, he has counseled individuals through the entire process, from the first work visa to permanent residence (“green card”) to U.S. citizenship.
  • Has obtained temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions and favorable settlements for companies victimized by departing employees’ misappropriation of trade secrets and violations of noncompetition, non-solicitation and other restrictive covenants. In one such matter, he was able to secure immediate injunctive relief after a company’s local manager coordinated a mass, unannounced resignation of nearly his entire office staff and started a competing business bearing a similar trade name. 
More »

Experience

  • Defended a Fortune 500 client at trial against alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for failure to accommodate, discrimination and retaliation. The trial was one of the few to involve the “cat’s paw” theory of liability under the ADA since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Staub v. Proctor Hospital. 
  • Has obtained O-1 extraordinary ability work visas for executives of major financial services companies, J-1 visa waivers for foreign physicians, E-2 visas for foreign investors, and hundreds of H-1B and L-1 work visas in specialties ranging from information technology to hospitality to health care. In this context, he has counseled individuals through the entire process, from the first work visa to permanent residence (“green card”) to U.S. citizenship.
  • Has obtained temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions and favorable settlements for companies victimized by departing employees’ misappropriation of trade secrets and violations of noncompetition, non-solicitation and other restrictive covenants. In one such matter, he was able to secure immediate injunctive relief after a company’s local manager coordinated a mass, unannounced resignation of nearly his entire office staff and started a competing business bearing a similar trade name. 
  • Has obtained P-1 visas for professional athletes and their essential support personnel in the IndyCar and NASCAR series.
  • During a trial for workplace defamation, obtained a unanimous jury verdict for a large automobile manufacturer on behalf of its employees who had testified against the plaintiffs – who were the employees’ coworkers – during a workplace investigation. 
  • Secured a ruling in favor of an airline client in an administrative hearing before the Ohio Civil Rights Commission alleging race and sex discrimination. 
  • Secured a National Interest Waiver green card for a young physician and cancer researcher, which allowed her to obtain permanent residence status on an expedited track to live and work in the U.S. The physician was in the early stages of her career but, compared to her peer group of young physicians, she demonstrated the potential to contribute at a high level to the field of cancer research. 

Recognitions and Memberships

Recognitions

  • The Legal 500 United States (2017 to 2019)
    • Recommended in Immigration

Memberships

  • American Immigration Lawyers Association
  • American Bar Association
  • Ohio State Bar Association
  • Columbus Bar Association: Barrister Leaders Program

News

Press Releases

Events

Community

  • Southeast, Inc., Healthcare Services
    • Board President (2010 to present)
    • Board of Directors (2003 to present)

Services

Industries

Emerging Issues

Admissions

  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, 2004
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio, 2002
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio, 2002
  • Ohio

Education

  • J.D., Notre Dame Law School, 2000
  • B.A., Michigan State University, 1996

Blog

In The Blogs

Previous Next
Employment Law Spotlight
What Is Joint Employment? New DOL Rules Take Effect in 60 Days
By Todd H. Lebowitz
January 13, 2020
This week’s post is Family Feud Style. Name Three Things That Sound Like They Would Be “Joint Employment” But Are Not: 1. Long-haired, easy-going product tester at the local wacky tobacky dispensary. 2. Note taker at an orthopedist’s...
Read More ->
Employment Law Spotlight
UPDATE 2: Texas Legislature and Courts Clash With Cities Over Mandatory Sick Leave: What Employers Need to Know
By Courtney B. Warren
November 26, 2019
This is an update to previous posts from June 24, 2019 and July 31, 2019. On Friday, November 22, Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai ordered that San Antonio’s paid sick leave ordinance, which was scheduled to take effect December 1, be...
Read More ->
Employment Law Spotlight
Not Dead Yet: The States' New Strategy for Attacking Independent Contractor Misclassification Can Be Relentless — and Costly.
By Todd H. Lebowitz
November 20, 2019
For years, state governments have claimed they were losing hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid withholdings as a result of independent contractor misclassification. Now, one state is making a grab for a massive piece of that pie —...
Read More ->
Employment Law Spotlight
New York City Extends NYCHRL Employment Protections to Freelancers and Independent Contractors
By Marc-Joseph Gansah, Amy J. Traub
November 18, 2019
On Oct. 13, 2019, New York City enacted Int. 136-A (the Law), expanding the employment protections of the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) to freelancers and independent contractors. The Law will take effect on Jan. 11, 2020. The...
Read More ->
Employment Law Spotlight
California Court of Appeal Determines Customer of Staffing Agency Is Employer Because of Direction and Control
By Eric W. Witt
November 8, 2019
In Jimenez v. U.S. Continental Marketing, Inc., the California Court of Appeal addressed whether the plaintiff and appellant, Elvia Velasco Jimenez, was an “employee” of a contracting employer under the California Fair Employment and...
Read More ->

Services

Find Professionals

Offices

About Us

Careers

Firm Diversity

LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Instagram Youtube RSS
Subscribe »
© 2020 Baker & Hostetler LLP