Matthew J. Allinson Bio
Matthew Allinson is a highly-experienced sports and entertainment, labor and employment, and
intellectual property attorney. As a veteran negotiator, strategic dealmaker and trusted advisor,
Matthew is known for effectively managing and resolving a wide-range of complex transactions,
disputes, and issues on behalf of high-profile professional athletes, media personalities, and
organizations. As a relentless advocate, he specializes in negotiating personal services contracts and
severance agreements for prominent broadcasters, journalists, and executives as well as talent,
licensing, and distribution agreements for podcast hosts. His practice also focuses on helping clients
acquire, protect, enforce, and monetize their intellectual property and other proprietary rights. Prior to
entering private practice, Matthew was a tireless and respected union negotiator for several nationally-
recognized labor unions for over a decade. He is licensed to practice law in Maryland and the District of
Columbia.
Career Highlights
- Negotiated over $500M in employment compensation.
- Negotiated numerous personal service contracts, talent agreements, severance agreements that protected his clients’ best interests and maximized their long-term value.
- Negotiated dozens of collective bargaining agreements as chief negotiator and/or labor counsel that resulted in significant economic gains and protections for union members in the private and public sectors.
- Litigated and arbitrated numerous union and employee disputes and secured successful outcomes.
- Negotiated content licensing, acquisition, co-production, production, shopping, attachment, and distribution agreements with linear, streaming, and digital platforms and content providers.
- Negotiated author agreements with Big 5 publishers for multi-hyphenate clients.
- Served as results-driven and business-oriented in-house counsel with a proven track record in the sports and media industries, offering extensive expertise in negotiating complex contracts, partnership agreements, and vendor agreements.
- Secured, managed, and enforced intellectual property rights for professional athletes, entertainers, and businesses.
- Helped clients resolve trademark disputes through negotiating co-existence and settlement arrangements.
- Served as the chief representative of the NPR bargaining unit for approximately 500 journalists, which is the largest unionized broadcast shop in the country.
- Created and designed the first ever Benefits Transition Booklet for the NFLPA distributed to retired NFL players.
- Awarded Fulbright Scholarship and spent a year in Kingston, Jamaica researching political unionism and the Jamaican trade union movement.
Prior Experience
- General Counsel to several businesses, including media startups
- National Negotiator/Assistant Counsel, National Treasury Employee Union (NTEU)
- Labor Counsel/Senior Broadcast Representative, Screen Actors Guild-The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and previously with AFTRA prior to the merger of the combined unions
- Claims Mediator, Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General
Education
- JD, The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, 2007
- Fulbright Scholar, The University of the West Indies at Mona, Jamaica, 2003-2004
- BA, Labor Studies & Industrial Relations and Psychology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, 2003 (Highest Honors and Phi Beta Kappa)
