Matthew T. Armendariz
Shareholder
Matthew Armendariz is a partner in the Business Practice Group at ScottHulse, where he advises clients on corporate transactions, commercial real estate, oil and gas, commercial lending, healthcare regulatory compliance, and water rights across Texas and New Mexico. He serves as head of the firm’s Business Practice Group and chairs the firm’s AI Committee.
Mr. Armendariz represents real estate developers, financial institutions, business owners, healthcare providers, and government entities. His transactional practice spans acquisitions and dispositions, entity formation and governance, seller-financed transactions, commercial loan documentation, and regulatory compliance. He is known for precise contract drafting and clear legal writing, and he teaches a yearly introduction to contract drafting to the firm’s associates.
Before joining ScottHulse in 2015, Mr. Armendariz was a member of the Finance practice group at Vinson & Elkins LLP in Dallas, where he represented borrowers, lenders, and sponsors in acquisitions and syndicated financings across the upstream, midstream, and downstream oil and gas sectors. He also represented portfolio companies of prominent private equity firms in connection with their financing and transactional needs.
Mr. Armendariz is an emerging authority on the intersection of artificial intelligence and legal practice. He has developed AI governance policies and vendor evaluation frameworks for ScottHulse, addressing the ethical and professional responsibility obligations that arise when law firms adopt AI tools. His paper, “Ungrounded Divergence: A Philosophical Framework for Understanding AI Hallucination,” is available on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN). The paper applies analytic philosophy to explain why large language models produce unreliable outputs and evaluates mitigation strategies for legal practitioners.
Spearheaded the acquisition of over $50 million in farmland and associated groundwater rights in Hudspeth County, Texas, for a local utility company.
Navigated complex local water conservation district regulations to facilitate a regional water importation project.
Successfully closed more than half a dozen major land and water rights deals, playing a crucial role in diversifying the region’s water portfolio.
Orchestrated the purchase of over 1,500 acres from the Department of Defense in El Paso County, Texas, on behalf of a private developer.
Skillfully negotiated the termination of CCNs and formed a new entity to hold title to the property.
Managed all related corporate matters, ensuring a smooth transition of ownership.
High-Stakes Secured Transaction (2019)
Successfully negotiated a complex $20 million secured transaction for an individual client.
Navigated intricate family law disputes while securing the loan with a diverse asset portfolio, including residential real property, promissory notes, and equity interests in various LLCs and partnerships.
Organizations
- El Paso Bar Association
Admissions & Certifications
- State Bar of Texas
- State Bar of New Mexico
Education
Stanford Law School
Juris Doctor
Associate Editor, Journal of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Executive Board Member, Stanford Latino Law Students Association (SLLSA)
Yale University
Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy
Accolades
