Matthew Swihart

Matthew Swihart is an attorney and mediator with the Day Law Group, PC. Matthew’s practice currently focuses on business and commercial law, civil litigation, contracts, civil rights. He is also a neutral third party mediator.

Matthew earned a Bachelor of Arts in English, Creative Writing—Fiction, with honors, from the University of South Florida, where he was a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society, and a founding member of the writing group Writer’s Ink.

He went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Goddard College. While there, Matthew served as Editor-in-Chief of the college’s student literary publication, The Pitkin Review.

Matthew received his Juris Doctor from Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Florida, ranked #1 in the nation for trial advocacy. During his time at Stetson, Matthew worked as a Teaching Fellow, Professor’s Assistant, and Legal Research & Writing Lab Instructor. He also served as an elected member of the Student Bar Association, Vice President of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, a member of Phi Alpha Delta, a founding member of the Federalist Society and the Stetson Young Republicans, and a Judicial Intern with the 13th Judicial Circuit in Tampa, Florida. Continuing his life-long devotion to martial arts, Matthew also founded and instructed the Stetson Chito-Ryu Karate Class.

Prior to becoming an attorney, Matthew spent a decade working as a certified Crisis Counselor and Therapist. This background serves Matthew well both in mediations and in front of juries.

Matthew is a seasoned trial attorney, but is also a firm believer in allowing his clients to control the fate of their cases whenever possible through alternative dispute resolution. In Florida, Matthew was a Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit-Civil Mediator, and he has successfully mediated a plethora of cases, from medical negligence to construction defect, from personal injury to contract disputes.

In addition to his legal practice, Matthew Swihart is a passionate writer and published author of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. He is currently working on publishing a novel, and writing several more. His latest nonfiction book, Christianity Simplified: The Basics of the Christian Faith for New Believers and Curious Nonbelievers, is available now.

Matthew has been practicing martial arts since 1990. He holds black belts in Chito-Ryu Karate and Shotokan Karate, and rank in Ryu Kyu Kobudo Hozon Shin Ko Kai (Okinawan weapons). In 2014, he opened the only Chito-Ryu dojo in Oregon, Portland Chito-Kai, where he teaches his self-defense oriented martial art to serious adults.

Beyond these, Matthew enjoys rock climbing, hiking, and generally enjoying the outdoors. He’s also an avid motorcycle and sports car enthusiast, and self-proclaimed adrenalin junky. He’s traveled to more than twenty different countries, and believes that life is too short and the world too beautiful to do anything but explore as much as possible.