As Senior Corporate Counsel at a technology company, Matt Sperling is particularly motivated to actively alleviate the struggles and challenges that others in the community are facing. He regularly volunteers to counsel low-income people who have been sued by creditors.  At a Justice & Diversity Center (JDC) debt defense clinic, he met “Mr. C,” who had incurred a high-interest loan over a decade ago. A debt-buyer had sued Mr. C and obtained an entry of default judgment against him. Matt was moved to keep helping Mr. C after the clinic. He got the judgment set aside and continued to vigorously represent Mr. C until the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the case. When Matt had the pleasure of notifying Mr. C that the case was dismissed, he says, “It felt amazing to be able to send that message.”

This is only one of the exceptional results that Matt has obtained through his pro bono work, and JDC thanks and congratulates him for his outstanding contributions to our Consumer Project.

Originally from Southern California, Matt lives in San Francisco and works in Mountain View at Addepar, a financial services technology company.  He says, “it feels good to sit down with another member of the community and tell them, ‘I am here to help, let’s see what we can do’ when that individual is facing a major challenge.”

In both work and volunteering, Matt finds “it helps to show up expecting to learn something and hoping to help.”  Volunteering for JDC allows him to do just that, providing him with consumer debt defense training and the opportunity to work with clients, under JDC’s supervision, at the Consumer Debt Defense and Education Clinic.

JDC is grateful to Matt for his commitment to pro bono work and his tireless efforts for low-income people facing debt collection.  JDC trains attorneys to offer limited-scope help at Consumer Debt Defense and Education Clinics held twice a month on Wednesday evenings.

To get involved, please email our Volunteer Coordinator at probono@sfbar.org.