Matthew Joseph Kacsmaryk is a judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. He was nominated by President Donald Trump in Sepember 2017 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in June 2019. Prior to his confirmation, Kacsmaryk was a deputy general counsel for the First Liberty Institute from 2014 to 2019.

Kacsmaryk served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas from 2008 through 2013. Assigned to the Appellate Division, he represented the United States government in over 75 criminal appeals filed in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, including several cases of first impression and numerous cases requiring oral argument. Kacsmaryk also served on two Criminal Division trial teams that prosecuted high profile, violent defendants and was responsible for all appellate litigation arising under the First Amendment, Sixth Amendment, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

While at the United States Attorney’s Office, he served as a CLE instructor, an appellate liaison to the Criminal Division, and an Adjunct Lecturer on Free Speech and the First Amendment at Southern Methodist University, Meadows School of the Arts. In October 2013, he was awarded the Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Furthering the Interests of U.S. National Security.

Prior to his work as a prosecutor, Kacsmaryk was an associate at the Dallas office of Baker Botts L.L.P., where he focused on commercial, constitutional, and intellectual property litigation, representing national, regional, and local clients. In 2005, he received the firm’s Opus Justitiae Award for Outstanding Commitment to Pro Bono Work.

Kacsmaryk received his law degree from the University of Texas, graduating with honors. While at the University of Texas, he was awarded the Dean’s Achievement Award in Constitutional Law II and Telecommunications Law, served as an Executive Editor of the Texas Review of Law & Politics, and was a member of The Federalist Society, Christian Legal Society, and Bible Study Fellowship. Kacsmaryk received his B.A. summa cum laude from Abilene Christian University, where he was a Trustee Scholar and a member of the Jack Pope Fellows Program.