Matthew P. Vafidis - Lawyer in San Francisco, CA

Matthew P. Vafidis is a partner specializing in commerciallitigation, with an emphasis on shipping and environmental law. Mr. Vafidisbegan his legal career as a barrister in London at the Bar of England and Wales,to which he was called in July 1979. Since 1981, he has practiced in SanFrancisco, first as an associate and partner at a major California law firm, andthereafter as a partner at Holland Knight and one of its predecessors, aninternationally-renowned shipping and aviation firm. Focusing on trial court andarbitration law, Mr. Vafidis has appeared in more than 40 trials, appeals andarbitrations, and has acted as mediator or appeared as counsel in approximately100 mediations. He leads Holland Knight's West Coast Litigation PracticeGroup, is consistently listed among the leading lawyers in California and theUnited States, and is a regular speaker and published writer on legalmatters.

Mr. Vafidis gained advocacy experience as a criminal defense barrister beforetaking up practice in San Francisco, initially skilled in admiralty law andfederal court, and then developing into a commercial and environmentallitigator. As a maritime lawyer, Mr. Vafidis specializes in disputes involvingthe carriage of goods by sea, collision, salvage and pollution, and has appearedfor foreign and domestic clients in arbitrations, administrative hearings, andfederal and state court litigation and appeals. He has developed skills andexperience in marine casualties, particularly oil spill response andinvestigation, and has been involved as counsel in most of the substantialincidents on the West Coast over the past 25 years.

With his background in marine pollution cases, and natural resource damageassessments, Mr. Vafidis has expanded his practice to land-based environmentalmatters, including representing foreign and U.S. clients in groundwatercontamination litigation, environmental cleanup and air pollution cases. Histrial knowledge enabled Mr. Vafidis to develop a broad commercial litigationpractice, in federal and state court and domestic and internationalarbitrations, representing California, U.S. and foreign businesses in contract,trade, real estate, insurance, intellectual property and antitrust disputes. Heis skilled on federal practice, particularly subject matter and personaljurisdiction, and maritime attachment and arrest, and has appeared in statecourts throughout California. In addition, Mr. Vafidis advises certainlongstanding clients, particularly in the transportation industry, regardingrisk management and general business issues.

Mr. Vafidis is committed to and active in pro bono representation, serves onfirm and local bar association pro bono committees, and was active on the boardof a nonprofit community arts organization in the Bay Area for several years. Hehas been a member of the U.S. District Court ADR panel for more than 20 years,and regularly acts as a mediator, both privately- and court-appointed. Mr.Vafidis frequently lectures, within the firm and at professional conferences inthe U.S. and abroad, on topics ranging from substantive law and procedure to lawpractice management and advocacy, and he regularly judges moot courtcompetitions at a local law school.