We are happy to announce that US News’ Best Lawyers in America© has named Matthew D. Besser the 2022 Cleveland Lawyer of the Year in the field of employment law representing employees. With his recognition, every lawyer at the Cleveland employment law firm of Bolek Besser Glesius has won the award.
Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected peer review legal publication in the United States. Recognition in The Best Lawyers in America is based entirely on peer review and reflects the consensus of the legal community about the professional skills and integrity of their colleagues. In addition, each year, Best Lawyers bestows its “Lawyer of the Year” award to the one attorney per city in a practice area who has the “highest overall peer-feedback.”
This year’s recognition of Matt Besser as Cleveland Employment Lawyer of the Year reflects his reputation as a champion for employee rights. Among his recent successes are a $986,602.21 verdict in a Cuyahoga County age discrimination case against one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. He also recently received the Ohio State Bar Association’s 2020 Best Brief Award for the best brief submitted by a private law firm in the Ohio Supreme Court.
Besser is devoted not only to justice for his clients, but to securing access to justice for all. He recently became the General Counsel of the ACLU of Ohio. Besser is also heavily involved in the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, where he serves on the Board of Directors and is a member of the judicial selection and the certified grievance committees, the latter of which he is past chair. Besser is also the founder of the Bar’s Civil Appellate Pro Bono Program.
“It is a privilege to fight for working people every day, protecting victims of discrimination and sexual harassment,” Besser said. “I am so grateful that my fellow attorneys recognized me with this award and I’ll do my best to live up to it. I am particularly honored to follow in the footsteps of my partners, Cathy Bolek and Amy Glesius, who both previously won Lawyer of the Year.”
Besser is a 2004 summa cum laude graduate of The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. After law school, he served as a Law Clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit before returning home to Cleveland to begin practice.
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