Mathew S. Rosengart is an American lawyer. He is a former federal prosecutor and Trial Attorney for the United States Department of Justice. Rosengart is known for representing high-profile clients, including Steven Spielberg, Sean Penn, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kenneth Lonergan, Eddie Vedder, Jimmy Butler, Sandton Capital Partners, Verizon, and Facebook. He is considered a "go to" litigator for Hollywood's elite and corporate America. In July 2021, Rosengart was hired to represent Britney Spears in her fight to remove her father, Jamie Spears, from her conservatorship and to end her years-long battle with her father. Rosengart and Spears won the case on November 12, 2021.
Education and early career
Mathew Rosengart earned his undergraduate degree from Tulane University and his J.D. degree from Boston College Law School (graduating cum laude, in 1987). After graduation, Rosengart served as a law clerk in the New Hampshire Supreme Court for Justice David Souter. He later served as a supervisory assistant United States attorney and Trial Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, where he earned the Justice Department's Special Achievement Award.
Career
Department of Justice
As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Mathew Rosengart prosecuted the case of Ralph Gene Johnson, who stalked and attempted to kidnap Gay Culverhouse, former president of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and daughter of the former owner of the Buccaneers, Hugh Culverhouse. Johnson also attempted to kidnap Gay's 20-year-old daughter in a ransom attempt. Following Rosengart's arguments, Johnson was convicted and sentenced to 27 years.
Also, in his capacity as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Rosengart secured trial convictions in the cases of United States v. Mark Dale Viscome and United States v. Samuel Gentile. Samuel Gentile of Clearwater, Florida, was sentenced to more than 46 years for attempting to kill his estranged wife with a pipe bomb. Mark Viscome, an accomplice, was sentenced to more than 20 years.
In 2000, Rosengart worked as a Trial Attorney for the Justice Department's Campaign Financing Task Force under the direction of Attorney General Janet Reno. Rosengart worked on the case United States v. James Riady, which charged Riady, an Indonesian billionaire, with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. for having made illegal campaign contributions. Rosengart conducted a money laundering investigation and obtained a felony conviction against Riady, and secured an $8.6 million fine—the largest campaign finance fine at that time. The head of the Campaign Financing Task Force was now U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad, who said: "Matt Rosengart is one of the sharpest lawyers I've ever met at the Department of Justice" whose "judgment is impeccable."
After being appointed Senior Associate Independent Counsel in a case commenced at the request of then U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, Rosengart represented the U.S. in the case United States of America, Appellee, v. Henry G. Cisneros, Appellant in 1999. Cisneros, the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, had been accused of lying to the FBI. Rosengart helped secure Cisneros’ conviction, and won the appeal on behalf of the U.S. government.
Private practice
In 2001, Rosengart departed from his role as a government prosecutor and went into private practice. His primary practice areas are media and entertainment litigation, commercial litigation, and white collar defense. In 2011, he joined the law firm, Greenberg Traurig.
Rosengart has worked on numerous high-profile cases, including those involving Britney Spears, Sean Penn, Winona Ryder, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Keanu Reeves, Daymond John, and Steven Spielberg. He has a "long history of getting results for his big name clients."
D/F Management v. Julianna Margulies
D/F Management hired Mathew Rosengart to represent the management company in its dispute versus Julianna Margulies, star of The Good Wife. D/F Management had signed Margulies to a contract in 2009. Margulies broke ties with the agency in 2011. Rosengart was hired to file a lawsuit against Margulies seeking damages for unpaid commissions totaling at least $420,000. Rosengart asserted that Margulies's counterclaims against his client were filed in bad faith. In August 2013, Rosengart negotiated a settlement between the two parties. The terms were not disclosed. In an interview, Rosengart said of the case: “All actors, especially experienced actors, understand the obligation to pay their managers post-termination commissions. That is the standard. It is routine. It is universal."