Matthew Hoyt joined the firm in 2005 after serving as General Counsel to the New Mexico State Land Office, where he supervised six attorneys and represented the Commissioner of Public Lands. Matthew had previously served the Governor of New Mexico as General Counsel and Assistant General Counsel during Governor Gary Johnson’s second term in office. Before joining the Governor’s Office, he was an associate at the law firm of Modrall, Sperling, Roehl, Harris and Sisk from 1998 to 2000, where he concentrated on natural resources litigation. Matthew received his Juris Doctorate and his Bachelor of Arts with honors in Journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Matthew was also a member of the Oliver Seth H. Verle Payne American Inns of Court.  Before he began his legal career, Matthew was a newspaper reporter and editor in Washington, D.C. and Flagstaff, Arizona. In 2011, Matthew was awarded the William S. Dixon First Amendment Freedom Award from the New Mexico from the New Mexico Forum for Open Government for his work in San Juan Agricultural Users Association v. KNME-TV.