About

Matthew L. Berman

I sue institutions over practices that harm large groups of people. Often the institution is New York City or New York State. I represent plaintiffs only, and I have litigated class actions for more than two decades.

The work

S.D.N.Y. · 2 F.4th 82 (2d Cir. 2021)

Dorce v. City of New York

In 2018 Yolande I. Nicholson brought me a pattern she had found in the City's Third Party Transfer program: the City took title to homes over municipal debt and kept the owners' equity. We filed in March 2019. In 2021 the Second Circuit reversed the dismissal and reinstated the takings, due process and equal protection claims. When the petitioners in Tyler v. Hennepin County asked the Supreme Court to decide whether keeping surplus equity is a taking, they cited a 2022 Dorce ruling; the Court answered yes, unanimously, in 2023. In September 2026 the City agreed to a proposed $60 million settlement for the Round 10 class, now awaiting court approval. Claims for more than 500 other properties remain in litigation. Co-counsel include Ropes & Gray and White & Case.

S.D.N.Y.

Chalmers v. City of New York

A race-based pay class action for FDNY Fire Protection Inspectors, compared with the City's building inspectors. Valli Kane & Vagnini and Mehri & Skalet were appointed co-class counsel. The case settled for $29.9 million, including pay-adjustment awards.

S.D.N.Y.

Parking Production Assistant cases

Overtime actions under the FLSA and New York Labor Law against major studios and networks, including Hines v. CBS, Leach v. NBC Universal and Morgan v. Warner Bros. Documented settlements exceed $28 million.

N.Y. Court of Claims · App. Div., 1st Dept · S.D.N.Y.

CUNY security officers v. State of New York

FLSA overtime claims in the Court of Claims, reinstated by the Appellate Division, First Department in 2026, and a Title VII class action in federal court over race-based pay.

E.D.N.Y.

Charles v. City of New York

Disability-rights claims by twelve New Yorkers over the City's Open Streets program. The court denied the City's motion to dismiss in 2026.

Background

Before joining Valli Kane & Vagnini in 2015, I spent ten years at Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann, a national plaintiffs' class-action firm, working on securities, consumer and employment class actions, including In re UnitedHealth Shareholders Derivative Litigation, In re Merck & Co. Securities Litigation, In re Pfizer Shareholder Derivative Litigation, and ECOA auto-finance class actions for African-American borrowers. I then practiced at a Madison Avenue trial boutique.

Admissions: New York; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York
Education: Fordham University School of Law, J.D. 1999 (Notes & Articles Editor, Fordham Environmental Law Review); Bucknell University, B.A. Economics 1994

Writing

I write about New York sales-commission law in the Legal Rights Knowledge Base.