- August 21, 2026
Matthew J. Hafey
Partner
Biography
BIOGRAPHY
Matt has counseled clients and spearheaded litigation regarding insurance coverage and bad faith disputes for more than 30 years.
Matt's experience includes:
Matt has filed and defended declaratory relief actions involving CGL, professional liability, and commercial auto policies; duty to defend and duty to indemnify issues; and a wide variety of first-party property issues arising out of earthquakes, wildfires, land movement, water damage, and mold.
He has appeared in numerous state and federal courts across the United States.
Matt's experience includes:
- Commercial General Liability (CGL);
- Construction defect;
- Personal and advertising injury;
- Habitability;
- Intellectual property;
- Professional liability (attorneys, physicians, insurance brokers, architects, and engineers);
- Employment practices liability (EPLI);
- Directors and officers (D&O) and management liability;
- Commercial auto and uninsured/underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage; and
- Property and casualty (first-party).
Matt has filed and defended declaratory relief actions involving CGL, professional liability, and commercial auto policies; duty to defend and duty to indemnify issues; and a wide variety of first-party property issues arising out of earthquakes, wildfires, land movement, water damage, and mold.
He has appeared in numerous state and federal courts across the United States.
Many attorneys think that being tougher than the opponent is the best way to practice law. Smarter is better. Tough and smart is the best.
Memberships
- Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review (1991 – 1992)
Awards & Rankings
- Best Lawyers®, The Best Lawyers in America® (Insurance Law), 2021-2027
Before Nicolaides
Matt was previously head of the insurance coverage practice at a mid-size, Southern California-based law firm, where he was a member for 17 years. Matt served as national coverage counsel for a commercial automobile insurer that provides liability coverage for rideshare programs throughout the United States. He also defended his insurance company clients in insurance coverage litigation and bad faith disputes.Outside Nicolaides
Matt and his wife are both attorneys and “transplants” from Connecticut. Their daughter is a successful screenwriter with several projects in development and their son is a graduate of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, currently working for an international consultancy firm in Washington, D.C.- Obtained summary judgment for CGL insurer enforcing breach of contract exclusion, precluding coverage for duty to defend in construction defect action
- Won motion to dismiss for insurer in commercial automobile dispute in which court held that Named Insured may properly reject uninsured motorist coverage for all “insureds”
- Obtained summary judgment for insurer on rescission claim based on material misrepresentation on policy application and breach of warranty
- Obtained summary judgment on breach of contract exclusion applied to Coverage B for underlying disparagement claim
- Secured summary judgment on intellectual property exclusion in CGL policy; successfully defended insurance company on appeal
- Obtained summary judgment on behalf of professional liability insurance company for insured’s failure to comply with 20-day notice period on claims-made and reported policy