Matthew Stiegler

Matthew Stiegler’s law practice focuses on Third Circuit appeals. He advocates for clients in a broad range of federal appeals, criminal and civil. He is regularly sought out by other experienced lawyers for appellate representation and consultation. In 2018, he won a landmark Third Circuit actual-innocence appeal in a case where three former federal judges filed a supporting amici curiae brief. At the close of oral argument in another recent Third Circuit appeal, the presiding judge described Stiegler as one of the finest advocates who ever appears before him.

Beyond his practice, Stiegler is the author of CA3blog, an online blog about Third Circuit developments and practice. He is frequently quoted on Third Circuit matters by national and legal media. He serves on the board of directors of the Philadelphia lawyer chapter of the American Constitution Society and the Third Circuit Bar Association.

Stiegler began his career representing inmates on death row. He was a staff attorney at a North Carolina non-profit law firm, an attorney with the ACLU’s national capital punishment project, and an assistant federal defender in Philadelphia.

He graduated with highest honors from the University of North Carolina School of Law, where he was a research assistant to Professor S. Elizabeth Gibson. His law review note on mass tort litigation won a national award for student writing in civil procedure. He was a law clerk for Judge David M. Ebel of the Tenth Circuit.

Stiegler previously served as an adjunct faculty member at UNC, teaching habeas corpus procedure and sexual orientation law.