Matthew W. Onest
Matthew Onest has more than seven years’ experience defending the interests of manufacturers, businesses of all sizes, property owners, and energy companies in all aspects of civil litigation. He has significant trial experience in numerous courts in the State of Ohio. Matthew is also a member of the firm’s appellate practice group and has successfully handled appellate cases before Ohio’s Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, Eleventh, and Twelfth District Courts of Appeal and the Ohio Supreme Court.
Matthew is also a member of the firm’s oil and gas practice group and has successfully represented companies and landowners in numerous aspects, including civil litigation, arbitration, and administrative proceedings before the Ohio Oil and Gas Commission. Matthew has experience negotiating oil and gas contracts and other energy-related agreements, including leases and easements. Though experienced in a wide variety of legal matters, Matthew focuses his practice primarily in the areas of energy litigation, business litigation, and real estate litigation.
Matthew practices out of the Canton and Massillon offices.
Professional Experience:
- Represents individuals and companies in complex business and tort litigation, including handling trials and other dispute resolution proceedings and commercial arbitration, along with appellate practice.
- Counsels and advises producers, and drillers involved in the oil and gas industry, including litigation before both state and federal courts in Ohio
- Initiates and/or defends lawsuits various lawsuits for declaratory judgment, under the Ohio Dormant Mineral Act, under the Ohio Marketable Title Act, for slander of title, for adverse possession, and for oil and gas lease breaches, interpretation, and enforcement of contractual obligations
Education:
- University of Mount Union, B.A. in Sociology and Criminal Justice, cum laude
- Received the William H. Porter Award in Sociology
- Trustee Scholarship recipient
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University of Akron School of Law, Juris Doctor, magna cum laude; served as assistant editor of the Akron Law Review
Courts and Bar Associations:
- Licensed to practice in Ohio
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio
- Member: The Ohio State Bar Association
- Member: Stark County Bar Association
- Member: Akron Bar Association
Honors and Awards:
- Received the CALI award for Academic Excellence for Bankruptcy, Evidence, and Health Law
- Recipient, Board of Trustees Scholarship
- Recipient of the ABA-BNA Award for Excellence in the Study of Health Law
- Recipient of The American Bankruptcy Law Journal Student Prize.
Professional and Community Affiliations:
- Massillon Museum, Trustee (2016-Present)
- Massillon Museum, Treasurer (2017-Present)
- Bluecoats, Inc. (Canton, Ohio), Board of Directors (2017-2019)
- The Golden Key Center for Exceptional Children, Board of Directors (2020)
- Member: Vintage Jackson Committee: The Jackson Township Rotary Club
- Member: Leadership Stark County, The 29th Graduating Class (2015-2016)
- Former Member: The Jackson Township Rotary Club (2015-2017)
- Former Member: The Young Lawyers Section Council and the Young Lawyers Section of the Ohio State Bar Association
- Member, Energy & Mineral Law Foundation
Presentations:
- “Preserving Severed Mineral Interests”– Seminar Presenter, Stark County Bar Association (2014)
- Ohio State Bar Association 2015 Oil and Gas Update: "2015 Ohio Oil and Gas Caselaw Update"
- Presenter at the Sterling Education's 6th Annual Landlord-Tenant Law Conference, Youngstown, Ohio (2015)
- “Defining Trespass and Adverse Possession” – Seminar Presenter, Half Moon Education, Inc. (2015)
- Presenter at the Sterling Education's Landlord-Tenant Law Conference, Youngstown, Ohio (2016)
- Co-Author of Ohio Survey for Texas A&M Journal of Property Law: 2018, 2019, 2020 Survey on Oil & Gas – Texas A&M University School of Law
- “Defining Trespass and Adverse Possession and Accommodating the Rights of Mineral Owners and Surface Owners” – Seminar Presenter, Half Moon Education, Inc. (2018)
Honors & Awards:
- Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® “Ones To Watch” 2021
- Ohio Supreme Court Holds That the Ohio Marketable Title Act Applies to All Severed Mineral Interests
- Utica Shale & Pipeline Newsletter November 2020
- Gibson's Bakery Verdict Recognized by The National Law Journal as a "TOP 100 Verdict"
- Ohio House Emergency Bill (HB 197) Related to COVID-19
- Seventh District Court of Appeals Holds That Conveying "the one-half part or share" of One's Fractional Royalty Interest...
- The Seventh District Court of Appeals Upholds Statutory Unitization Order-Lessee's Use of Statutory Unitization Provision Does Not Breach...
- KWGD, partnering with Tzangas Plakas Mannos Ltd., obtained a verdict against Oberlin College for $44 million in favor of Gibson's Bakery, et al.
- Texas A&M School of Law Survey on Oil & Gas
- Ohio Supreme Court declines to review case involving temporary cessation and paying quantities issues related to oil & gas leases
- Ohio Supreme Court Makes it Clear: Landlords Must Keep Common Areas Safe & Sanitary
- Ohio Supreme Court accepts Wendt v. Dickerson, A Case Concerning Ohio's Dormant Mineral Act
- Attorney Matthew Onest to speak at the 6th Annual Landlord-Tenant Law Conference
- 11th District upholds Automatic Abandonment under the 1989 DMA as Constitutional
- Fifth District Court of Appeals' Opinion Upholds Automatic Operation of 1989 Dormant Mineral Act
- Dahlgren v. Brown Farm Properties LLC - Seventh Dist. Court of Appeals Reverses Controversial Trial Court Decision Involving 1989 Ohio DMA
- Swartz v. Householder & Shannon v. Householder - Seventh District Court of Appeals Once Again Upholds 1989 Dormant Minerals Act as Self-Executing
- Walker v. Noon-7th District Court of Appeals Upholds 1989 Dormant Mineral Act as Self-Executing
- 1989 Court Decision Ruling of Dormant Mineral Act
- Ohio Trial Court Rules 1989 Version of Dormant Mineral Act