Matthew Topic
Attorney
Loevy & Loevy
Matt Topic joined Loevy & Loevy in 2014. His practice includes intellectual property licensing and litigation, as well as governmental transparency/freedom of information matters.
Prior to joining Loevy & Loevy, Matt was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in its highly ranked intellectual property practice. As a law clerk to now-retired Presiding Magistrate Judge Morton Denlow before joining Kirkland, Matt assisted in over 100 settlement conferences in a wide variety of federal court suits, including many IP cases. Matt graduated from Chicago-Kent College of Law as Valedictorian in 2006, where he was an Executive Articles Editor of the Chicago-Kent Law Review and an Intellectual Property Colloquium Fellow. Prior to law school, Matt was a professional jazz musician and small business owner. His undergraduate education included general engineering coursework at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has published several articles on intellectual property and is a frequent presenter on intellectual property and FOIA issues.
Intellectual Property
Matt has represented large and small companies in intellectual property matters, including patent, trademark, trade secret, false advertising, licensing, and commercial disputes. His experience includes litigation and licensing involving computer software and hardware, e-commerce, social and online media, computerized business methods, telecommunications, vehicle monitoring systems, smart cards, chemicals, and various mechanical devices. Matt has practiced in many district courts around the country, the International Trade Commission, and the Court of Federal Claims, and his experience includes appellate work in various courts of appeal, including the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Matt’s work at Kirkland was recognized as one of five “Stand Out” awards from Financial Times for Most Innovative Law Firm in Litigation.
Media/Open Government
Matt has successfully handled dozens of FOIA matters:
• Overturning an Attorney General opinion that allowed a public body to lock an electronic document based on a “fear of manipulation” (Fagel v. Dept. of Transportation, 2013 IL App (1st) 121841)
• Obtaining state grand jury subpoena over the objection of the Cook County State’s Attorney (Better Gov’t Assoc. v. Village of Maywood)
• Obtaining cell phone records for former Cook County Board President Todd Stroger and others (Better Gov’t Assoc. v. County of Cook)
• Obtaining 911 response time data (Better Gov’t Assoc. v. Chicago Police Dept.)
• Obtaining data showing costs of aldermanic security detail (Better Gov’t Assoc. v. Chicago Police Dept.)
• Obtaining accident reports involving public vehicles (Better Gov’t Assoc. v. Pace)
• Rectifying multiple FOIA violations and obtaining a consent decree to ensure court supervision of any future disputes and an agreement to pay civil penalties (Ealey v. Village of Maywood)
• Obtaining thousands of documents by an entity that had claimed not to be subject to FOIA (Crivello v. Ill. Int’l Port District)
Bar Admissions
• Illinois
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
• U.S. Court of Federal Claims
• Various U.S. Courts of Appeals
Education
Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago, Illinois
• J.D., Valedictorian
• Order of the Coif
• Executive Articles Editor, Chicago-Kent Law Review
• Intellectual Property Colloquium Fellow
North Central College
• B.A.
