Matt Schmidt
Matt is a partner at Schmidt, Sethi & Akmajian and graduated from the James E Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona in 2010. Matt's primary interest in law focuses on serious personal injury, insurance bad faith, and police liability.
Prior to attending law school, Matt earned two Bachelor of Arts degrees in English and Creative Writing at the University of Arizona. During this time, his interest in travel sent him on two study abroad programs in Italy and Ireland. His passion for creative writing has not left him since then, having self-published two children's books for his two older children - with a third book in the works. Matt's writing talent even won him 2nd place in the Arizona Attorney's creative arts competition in May 2011 for his fictional piece “The Taker.”
In law school, Matt served as a legal extern for Senator Jon Kyl in Washington D.C. on the Judiciary Committee for the subcommittee of Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security in the Fall of 2008. He won the Andrew Silverman Law Student Community Service Award in the 2009-2010 for his leadership on the Community Service Board and orchestration of several community service events for law students to participate in. He served as a writer for the Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law. In June 2010, Matt put his legal writing skills to work and with his dad (Ted Schmidt) co-authored “Taking the ‘Strict' Out of Products Liability Law,” a feature article in the Arizona Attorney. Matt also co-authored Sections of the Products Liability Chapter in the State Bar of Arizona's Arizona Tort Law Handbook 2012. He also participated on the Arizona Mock Trial Team in 2009-2010, a team that made it to the finals in the annual regional completion. Matt also writes frequently in the Writ, which is Pima County Bar Association's monthly publication, having recently written an ongoing column called “Techno-Law-gically Speaking” from 2011-2018 and now writes one called “Mind Your Mind”.
When he is not practicing law, writing or traveling with his wife, Matt enjoys participating in or watching just about any sporting event. He played rugby at the University of Arizona, played for the Old Pueblo Lions' Rugby Club until recently, and still bleeds red and blue when it comes to the Arizona Wildcats. Now, Matt's passion for sports, penchant for mentoring, and love of his family have combined as a coach for his sons' baseball and soccer teams. Matt also enjoys staying active in the community and has been involved in various philanthropic and charity organizations such as the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Tucson program, as the President and Founder of the Engage Foundation, and being on the Board of Directors for the Empower Coalition, among many others.
- Areas of Practice:
- Serious Personal Injury
- Insurance Bad Faith
- Police Liability
- Bar Admissions:
- Arizona, 2010
- Education:
- The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, Tucson, Arizona, 2010
- University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona B.A.
Major: English
Major: Creative Writing
- Honors and Awards:
- "40 Under 40 Award" winner, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, 2014
- National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Student-Athlete Scholar Award Winner
- Professional Associations and Memberships:
- Engage Foundation President and Founder, 2018 - Present
- Empower Coalition, Board of Directors
- NEXUS Executives, Member
- Arizona Association of Justice Board Member
- Eagle Scout, 1999 - Present
- Tucson Big Brothers Big Sisters, 2010 - 2016
- University of Arizona Rugby Team
- Young Lawyers Division of the Pima County Bar Association Board Member, 2012 - 2017
- Officer and President of the Old Pueblo Rugby Football Club, 2010 - 2017
- Published Works:
- “Mind Your Mind,” The Writ, October 2018 - March 2020
- “Techno-Law-gically Speaking,” The Writ, December 2011 - July 2018
- Sections of the Products Liability Chapter in the State Bar of Arizona's Arizona Tort Law Handbook, 2012
- The Taker, Arizona Attorney, May 2011
- Taking the “Strict” Out of Products Liability Law in Arizona, Arizona Attorney, June 2010
- Children's Books: Boopie Goes to Dreamlandia, 2017 and Brody Badger Plays Baseball, 2019
- Classes/Seminars Taught:
- Minding your Mind in a Difficult Time (State Bar of Arizona, 2020)
Stress Management & Wellness: A toolkit for lawyers (State Bar of Arizona, 2019)
Positive Psychology for Lawyers (James E. Rogers College of Law, 2019)
The Winter Bench and Bar Program: FASTAR panel (State Bar of Arizona 2018)
Achieving Equilibrium in Professional & Personal Life (James E. Rogers College of Law, 2018)
Food for Thought: Networking and Marketing (James E. Rogers College of Law,2018)
Food for Thought: Managing your caseload (James E. Rogers College of Law, 2018)
Food for Thought: Networking and Marketing (James E. Rogers College of Law, 2017)
Food for Thought: Managing your caseload and your time (James E. Rogers College of Law, 2017)
Food for Thought: Ten things new associates should (and shouldn't) do (James E. Rogers College of Law, 2016)
Reducing Stress and Increasing Happiness to Become More Productive and Successful (James E. Rogers College of Law, 2016)
Cloudy with a Chance of Pitfalls: Cloud computing for lawyers (State Bar of Arizona, 2016)
Red Car, Blue Car: An introduction to car crash litigation (Pima County Bar Association, 2015)
Food for Thought: Client management (James E. Rogers College of Law, 2015)
Food for Thought: Managing your caseload and your time (James E. Rogers College of Law, 2014)
Get the Most Out of your iPad in your Law Office (Western Trial Lawyers, 2014)
Got Apps? An in-depth review of the most useful iPad apps for lawyers (Pima County Bar Association, 2014)
Food for Thought: Ten things new associates should (and shouldn't) do (James E. Rogers College of Law, 2014)
iPad Magic: How the iPad can change your practice for the better (State Bar of Arizona, 2013)
LEAD Career Discussion Panel (James E. Rogers College of Law, 2013)
Food for Thought: Managing your caseload (James E. Rogers College of Law, 2013)
Food for Thought: Writing an effective letter (James E. Rogers College of Law,2012)
Food for Thought: Ten things new associates should (and shouldn't) do (James E. Rogers College of Law, 2012)
Recent Blog Posts
60 Minute Story Reveals Cases of Insurance Fraud by Insurance Companies
Important Legal Knowledge that Everyone Should Know
Ford Has Recalled Ranger Trucks Due to Airbag Issue
Community Update
How Do I Know What Insurance Coverage I Have? Things to Know About Your Insurance Policy If You Are In a Car Accident
Recommendations
- I highly recommend Matt Schmidt and paralegal Anissa Amado at AZ Injury Law. The whole team at Schmidt, Sethi & Akmajian worked together to help me and my claim regarding my car accident. A red light runner totaled my vehicle leaving me with a fractured collarbone and several broken ribs. I wa...
- It is my great pleasure to strongly recommend the law firm of AZ Injury Law as representatives for those who have suffered significant injuries. Several months ago, I was hit by a vehicle while on my bicycle and suffered a broken acetabula in my pelvis. The pain and suffering that I incurred from...
- I would highly recommend lawyer Matt Schmidt of AZ Injury Law, Elizabeth Holguin--Paralegal, and the front office. They are all one amazing team! I had a serious accident being hit by a red light runner and received a severe concussion with months of therapy, but with AZ Injury Law, I never had ...
- My husband and I were badly injured when we were hit by a drunk driver while on our motorcycle. The driver was not only drunk, but she had no insurance on top of it. My mother in law put us in contact with the Schmidt attorneys and they were immediately there in the rehabilitation hospital with u...
- My husband and I were badly injured when we were hit by a drunk driver while on our motorcycle. The driver was not only drunk, but she had no insurance on top of it. My mother in law put us in contact with the Schmidt attorneys and they were immediately there in the rehabilitation hospital with u...
- I am writing this review to show my gratitude for the work that Matt Schmidt and his phenomenal team did representing my daughter. When we started this process, my daughter was about to start second grade. Matt and his team were nothing but respectful and accommodating of her age, and went out of...
- We highly recommend seeking legal advice from Matt Schmidt and his associates . Our business would not be back to business if we had not followed their advice and legal counsel. Any time we had questions , doubts, fear, they were always willing to give us support and direction but the most valuab...
- In the lives of most Americans, we do not have a lawyer on retainer and we hope we'll never need the services of a lawyer. But sometimes life goes wrong. In our case, an object was left in my husband's body after a medical procedure. We actually were referred to the firm of Schmidt, Sethi and Ak...
- My partner and I were in a car accident with injuries while on vacation in Tucson. We found an attorney in our home state that didn't know we had to have an Arizona attorney until a couple of months before the filing deadline. But he did find us Matt Schmidt. Matt jumped on the case and filed the...
- Matt took on an expiring car accident case from out of state. He filed the lawsuit in time to stop the clock from running out. Matt effectively negotiated a fair settlement with a rigid and unyielding insurance company. He and his team guided us through the whole process and took the time to exp...
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Thankfully, with their help, everything was resolved thoroughly!
After my auto accident, I worked with Matt Schmidt and his legal team to sort through numerous medical bills and insurance claims. Thankfully, with their help, everything was resolved thoroughly! - Matt and Irma make a great team. They are professional, very knowledgeable and kept us up to date as to what progress was being made on our claim. They were able to guide us through the process and ensured that we were able to get the settlement we were entitled to in a very timely manner. ...
- Matt and his team were a pleasure to work with. They kept us informed about our case at all times and were able to get a favorable judgment in the end. Thank you!
- I could not have asked for better representation than what I received with this firm. Everyone acted very professional and diligent at all times and handled case, meeting and even exceeding my highest expectations. I thank everyone involved in this process who has helped me get through it. I woul...
- I am very appreciative of the time, care, concern and overall handling of my uninsured/underinsured motorist "bad faith" claim. Matt Schmidt and Elizabeth were nothing short of amazing during one of the most stressful times of my life. They took away most of the stress and doubt throughout the pr...
- Matt and Elizabeth were excellent! Elizabeth's email responses were quick and helpful no matter how many times we asked similar questions. I felt comfortable with Matt's approach and communication which says a lot when experiencing a very difficult time post car accident injuries. A.W.
- We owe so much thanks to Matt and his wonderful Paralegal Elizabeth. I could not recommend anyone with more esteem and we feel extremely blessed to have had Matt Schmidt represent us. What started as a small claims case escalated into a counter suit against us, and had us well outside of our ele...
- I am greatly indebted of gratitude to the staff at Schmidt, Sethi & Akmajian for their enormously helpful services. In February of 2018, I was involved in a motorcycle accident which resulted in multiple breaks in four bones of my left shoulder. It was necessary to wait eighteen days to have su...
- My husband and I were referred to Matthew Schmidt as a highly qualified attorney. We had a serious issue that would have a serious impact on our lives if it couldn't be resolved in our favor. My husband had a company long-term care insurance plan as a retiree. We missed a payment due to a seriou...
- Matthew F. Schmidt is the type of lawyer every client would want, and other lawyers should strive to be like. Matt's skill and hard work is surpassed only by his virtue and compassion. Throughout the last three and a half years that he represented us, Matt proved to be a dedicated defender of our...
- Schmidt, Sethi & Akmajian worked tirelessly to get the money back we spent for repairs from water damage our homeowners insurance fought to reimburse us for. We had a dishwasher leak from the motor. Our insurance company sent a representative out to our house and denied the claim. We hired Matt ...
- I appreciate you all so much for everything you have done to make this process easier for me and my family. I couldn't have asked for anyone better. Thank you. E.S.
- Good Afternoon Mr. Schmidt and Elizabeth, Thanks so much for your time, efforts and support in this. I believe you both have already done so much for me and for that I'm so grateful. Mr. Schmidt, it brings a smile to me knowing how you are ready to put up your dukes for me. It shows me how gre...
- After having been through a car accident, I wasn't sure whether to hire an attorney or settle the claim myself. After speaking with Matt, he gave me the confidence to hire him and his staff to represent me. His value proposition was simply that the cost for their services would be outweighed by t...
- I have never needed a lawyer for anything in my life. I can honestly say Matt Schmidt and all of the office staff kept me informed of everything going on in my case. They did the best to get me a settlement. I would hire them again if I needed to. Thanks for all your help.
- Our lawyer, Matt Schmidt, made us feel very comfortable, and we were extremely happy that we were able to resolve our matter quickly and in a highly satisfying manner. We were very impressed by the service and generosity of the firm. Our paralegal, Elizabeth Holguin, was very kind, and we appreci...
- My son in law recommended the firm Kinerk, Schmidt & Sethi as the best firm to represent me in my lawsuit. I am so glad that he did. Matt Schmidt worked diligently for me. This process was a new experience for me and at times puzzling, but I was kept informed. I was always treated with dignity an...
- To put our gratitude in a few words is difficult. Kinerk, Schmidt & Sethi helped us during a very difficult time in our lives. Matt was empathetic, understanding and listened to all of our family's needs. His legal assistant, Elizabeth, was awesome. She also took the time to help us in every asp...
- I chose Kinerk, Schmidt & Sethi to represent me after I was injured in a car accident last summer. After the accident, my first impulse was to try and work with the insurance companies involved and not involve a lawyer. To be honest, I had been turned off by television ads for "injury lawyers" pr...
- Attention Matt Schmidt, thank you for the excellent representation you continue to provide as legal actions in my behalf move along toward settlement. I appreciate the way you have kept me informed and advised regarding procedures. Your explanations helped me understand the complexities involved,...
- I met Ted and Matt Schmidt for legal counsel regarding a personal injury. I was diagnosed with steroid induced glaucoma of both eyes. Mr. Schmidt explained their service and agreed to take my case. In the many months that followed, they kept me informed about what they were doing, why they were g...