Match Dawson

Biography

Match Dawson (J.D. ’13), AEP, CTEP, FGAFM, is an Assistant Professor of Law at St. Mary’s University School of Law, where he teaches Property, Wills and Estates, Trusts and Asset Protection.

Before entering academia, Dawson clerked for Justice Paul W. Green of the Texas Supreme Court, then practiced with one of the nation’s leading estate planning and asset protection firms before founding a boutique practice of his own. Dawson spent more than a decade advising ultra-high net worth clients on estate planning, asset protection and tax strategy. His clients included businesses owners, high-visibility individuals and multigenerational family enterprises involving complex domestic and offshore planning needs. His work focused on structuring trusts, business entities, wealth transfer tax, closely-held business taxation, intergenerational legacy and business succession.

Before beginning his legal career, Dawson built a nationally recognized financial advisory practice, receiving multiple awards for his contributions to the industry. He was also named a Top of the Table advisor by the Million Dollar Round Table — a distinction reserved for the top one percent of global wealth planners. Drawing on this combined legal and financial experience, he integrates real-world transactional, tax and governance considerations into his courses, connecting doctrinal rules to the practical challenges attorneys navigate when advising sophisticated clients.

Dawson holds advanced designations as an Accredited Estate Planner and Chartered Trust and Estate Planner, and is a Distinguished Fellow of the Global Academy of Finance and Management. He has also been recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer, an Elite Lawyer and one of Austin’s top estate planning attorneys.

His scholarship focuses on how property law and related doctrines are used to consolidate private power and reshape public governance. His work has been published in leading journals, including the Tennessee Law Review, the Michigan Journal of Law Reform and the Texas A&M Journal of Property Law.