Matthew R. Plain has been named Co-Managing Partner of Barton Gilman LLP. Alongside fellow co-managing partners, Francis A. Connor, III and Edward D. Shoulkin, he will oversee the firm’s day-to-day management and operation.
In addition to his executive role with the firm, Plain has served as the firm’s marketing partner for six years and maintains a thriving practice in labor and employment, public agency, regulatory compliance, workplace and school investigations, professional liability, general liability, contract drafting and disputes, education law, and administrative law. He devotes a considerable portion of his practice to advising governing bodies of schools and administrators on a myriad of education law issues, including special education, employment, student/staff discipline, government relations, open government, contract law and constitutional law. Notably, Plain serves as outside general counsel to the Massachusetts Charter Public Schools Association and the Rhode Island League of Charter Schools. He is active with the Alliance for Public Charter School Attorneys and served on the National Litigation Council for the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools. Prior to law school, Plain taught 7th and 8th Grade in the North Carolina public schools for four years and has an Advanced Competencies Teaching License for Social Studies Education (Grades 6–12).
Plain has been named a Best Lawyer in America in Education Law from 2018-2022, a Lawyer of Professional Excellence in the Law in Education Law by Rhode Island Monthly from 2019-2021, a Rhode Island Super Lawyer Rising Star from 2011-2015 and Super Lawyer from 2018-2020, and 40 Under Forty by Providence Business News in 2011. He received his J.D. from Roger Williams University School of Law, an M.Ed. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Plain is admitted to practice in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York.
About Barton Gilman
Barton Gilman serves clients throughout the Northeast with offices in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, offering legal services in a wide variety of matters, including medical and other professional liability defense, premises liability and business litigation, as well as education law, employment, family law, insurance coverage, trusts and estates, criminal defense, corporate formation and intellectual property. The firm and its attorneys have received numerous awards and accolades, including Best Lawyers, Best Law Firms, Best Places to Work Rhode Island, Outstanding Philanthropic Business, the Common Good Award, and Super Lawyers.
