Storied attorney, former Temple Sinai president, Matthew ‘Matt’ Greenbaum funeral set for Tuesday
MATTHEW “MATT” HARRIS GREENBAUM, an attorney who specialized in Social Security defense for his clients, passed away peacefully after a 20-year battle with Parkinson’s disease, surrounded by his loving family on Saturday, August 8. He was 74 years old.
MATTHEW GREENBAUM
A native of Boston, he was raised in Queens and Roslyn Heights, New York. As a young child, he contracted polio, requiring years of frequent trips to the doctor. He shared a lifelong love of baseball, growing up in a house that instilled a love of education. He posseessed intellectual curiosity that led him to study politics and matters dealing with equality and justice.
Despite his bout with polio, he skipped a grade in elementary school, and succeeded in his early education, despite him being challenged as being younger and physically smaller than his classmates. He went on to enjoy a successful time as a high school wrestler.
In 1968, he entered Columbia College of Columbia University, earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1972. During his years at Columbia, which coincided with the societal upheaval caused by the Vietnam War, Greenbaum became actively involved in the student anti-war movement. In 1969, he and other students were arrested for occupying a university building during an antiwar protest. In the Fall of 1969, he met his future wife, Barbara Ziv, whom he married in 1972, shortly before they both entered Tulane University Law School and from which they graduated in 1975.
He had a storied legal career. During law school, he clerked for Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Frank A. Marullo, Jr. He was hired shortly after graduation by the renowned white-collar criminal defense lawyer, Michael Fawer, with whom he worked on many high-profile cases. He also assisted Yoko Ono in obtaining the return of stolen photographs.
Eventually, he left criminal defense litigation and became a prominent Social Security disability lawyer in New Orleans. He founded The Law Offices of Matt Greenbaum, expanding the firm to Gulfport and Jackson, Mississippi. His ubiquitous television commercials made him something of a local celebrity. Matt took particular pride in helping people who needed an advocate. His expertise in Social Security disability law was recognized nationally, and he frequently spoke at conferences of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives.
He also taught Trial Advocacy at Tulane Law School from 1984 to 1989 and Social Security Law at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law from 1992 to 1996. Matt believed deeply in education, service, and community. He was active at Metairie Park Country Day School, which all of his children attended from kindergarten through 12th grade. He served as President of the Board of the New Orleans Ballet Association and was involved in numerous other civic organizations throughout the city.
His Jewish faith was integral to his life, and one of his proudest achievements was serving as president of the Board of Temple Sinai.
Throughout his life, he was passionate about music. His favorite artists included The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Jackson Browne. He was a patron of the arts, and an avid New York Rangers fan and a Yankees fan through and through. He loved all things politics.
He was an active and devoted father who showed up for every soccer game, cross-country meet, music concert, school musical, and the countless ordinary moments that make up a childhood. He encouraged his children to value education, curiosity, athleticism, healthy competition, justice, and equality, to think for themselves and to stand up for what they believed was right.
Shortly after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which drastically changed the trajectory of his life, Greenbaum was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. For more than two decades he lived with this cruel and unrelenting progressive debilitating disease. He fought it courageously to the very end. Parkinson’s defined the final chapter of Matt’s life, but not the life that came before it or the legacy he leaves behind. He was brilliant and curious, brave and complicated, loving and generous. He enthusiastically supported his family and friends, and he was wholeheartedly loved in return. At the end, his loved ones held vigil by his side, surrounding him with the music he loved and singing him into eternal rest.
Visitation will be held at Temple Sinai, 6227 St. Charles Avenue, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, with a funeral service beginning at 11:00 a.m. For those unable to attend in person, the funeral service will be livestreamed through Temple Sinai’s website. A catered reception will follow in the Temple Sinai Auditorium.
He was predeceased by his second wife, Lisa Matherne, and is survived by his five children, Esther Greenbaum (Jill Tucker), Miriam Greenbaum Solomon (Aaron), Vanessa Greenbaum (Adam Bosso), Madeline Greenbaum (Charles Yeilding) and Arthur “Wyatt” Greenbaum; his mother, Gloria Rubin Greenbaum; his siblings Daniel Greenbaum and Jessica Greenbaum (Jed Marcus); and five grandchildren. He is also survived by two former wives Barbara Ziv and Ashley Hewitt.
Memorial donations may be made in Matthew Harris Greenbaum’s memory to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, in support of its work toward better treatments and a cure for Parkinson’s disease.
