Matthew Chivari

Working from his office at Leonard Trial Lawyers in Chicago, Illinois, Matthew A. Chivari focuses his practice on aiding individuals who have been injured due to the negligence of a third party. Serving clients across the state, he handles cases involving traumatic brain injuries, motor vehicle and car accidents, spine injury accidents, wrongful death, premises liability, nursing home abuse, among others. Mr. Chivari graduated from the Gerry Spence Method – known to those who attend as "the Ranch" and considered the most prestigious and selective trial advocacy program in America – in 2025. He believes that the most effective advocacy comes from telling a client's true story rather than simply arguing a case, and he approaches every client relationship with honesty, vulnerability and genuine human connection.

A Storyteller at Trial

Mr. Chivari's approach to a case begins long before he steps into a courtroom. Rather than treating a case as a set of facts to be proven, he treats it as a story to be understood, one that starts with the client, not the file. He spends significant time not only with his clients but with the people who know them best: family, friends and coworkers who can speak to who that person was before the injury and who they are now.

This is deliberate. Medical records and deposition transcripts can establish what happened, but Mr. Chivari believes they rarely capture why it matters. Finding that requires listening past the facts – to character, to change, to what a jury needs to feel to understand what was lost. It's this attentiveness to the human beings behind a case, rather than just the paperwork in front of him, that shapes how he builds and tries his cases.

Graduating with a bachelor's degree in special education from Western Governors University, Mr. Chivari also holds a master of education degree from National Louis University. Later pursuing his law degree to hone his advocacy skills, he received his juris doctor from DePaul University College of Law. While in law school, he was an active member of DePaul's National Trial Team and a recipient of numerous CALI Excellence for the Future Awards. He was admitted to practice law in Illinois in 2021.

Starting his career as a criminal defense attorney, Mr. Chivari established his own practice in Chicago. Handling state criminal matters at trial and appellate levels, he gained extensive litigation experience, having now tried more than 20 cases to verdict in both state and federal court. Transitioning into personal injury practice, he draws on his formidable advocacy skills, his deep knowledge of pre-litigation practice, and a commitment to finding and telling each client's true story to help his clients fight against insurance companies and medical institutions – not as case files, but as people with a story that deserves to be heard.