Matthew A. Nickles

Member

Areas of Practice

Matt Nickles is an RPWB member who handles a variety of cases throughout the southeastern United States, including medical malpractice, personal injury, nursing home negligence, premises liability, motor vehicle accidents, and class actions. Nickles has litigated a number of wrongful death and serious injury claims, including cases arising from delayed diagnosis and mistreatment of cancer, failure to diagnose stroke, retained surgical objects, negligent administration of pharmaceuticals, among others.

A native of Columbia, South Carolina, Nickles was exposed to the law at an early age. His mother worked as general counsel for the state Department of Social Services, and his father is a well-known attorney who took on the video poker industry.

It was those early experiences and the stories told around the dinner table that sparked an interest in the law. Nickles graduated with a degree in European history from Washington & Lee University and a law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law.

During law school, he interned for the Honorable Margaret Seymour, a federal judge in the District of South Carolina, and clerked for RPWB. Following graduation, he worked for a Columbia defense firm, Walker Reibold, before spending two years as a law clerk for the Honorable Richard Gergel. Following his clerkship, He joined RPWB as an associate attorney in 2014.

Nickles is an avid golfer. In high school, he was a member of the AC Flora High School golf team that won a state championship and later played for his college team at Washington & Lee.

Education

University of South Carolina School of Law, J.D., cum laude, 2010
Washington and Lee University, B.A., History, magna cum laude, 2007

Admissions

2010, South Carolina
2011, U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina

Professional Memberships

South Carolina Bar
2017 Legal Elite of the Midlands, Columbia Business Journal, Personal Injury Law

Representative Cases

Complex Business Disputes

Jim is counsel in Global Communications Inc. v. PDI Communications Inc. et al., in which it is alleged that DirecTV infringed upon key patents that enable the satellite provider to use a single dish unit to broadcast multiple channels throughout each customer’s house.

Mutual Fund Litigation

As fund assets grow, the cost of managing a mutual fund does not increase as exponentially as revenues generated by fees do. Jim serves as counsel in cases on behalf of investors against mutual fund advisors for charging excessive fees. A number of his cases have resulted in settlements to investors, and his work has caused some mutual funds to initiate reforms, including fee breakpoints and better oversight by boards of directors.

Insurance Industry Risk Calculations

Jim is counsel in class action litigation against AIG for its methodology of calculating a company’s risk when determining workers’ compensation premiums. The insurance company used a rolling three-year average of paid claims, but failed to consider the portion of those claims that was ultimately recouped from the at-fault party’s insurance company and other sources.

Securities Markets

Jim is counsel in a proposed class action against seven major banks for allegedly colluding in private chat rooms for years to manipulate prices in the $5 trillion per day forex market, which impacted both spot prices and futures contracts. The case, Teel v. Bank Of America Corporation et al, was filed on behalf of investors who bought foreign currency futures. It is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.