He has been employed as higher executive officer and was legal adviser in the Law Department of the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and also as a guest researcher at the Max Planck institute in Freiburg, Germany.
The process surrounding the 2008 appointments was criticised by professor of comparative politics at the University of Bergen, Gunnar Grendstad for a "lack of transparency".
[3] Journalist Hanne Skartveit (working for Verdens Gang) tried to push the three newly appointed judges to reveal their political positions in a selection of matters of public interest.
[4] Matheson (and his two new colleagues) did not, however, accept the contentions of the critics and refused to bind themselves to positions that later could become subject to Supreme Court considerations.
[5] In the second case, of March 2010, Matheson was the sole dissenter against four justices in a case regarding compensation for non-pecuniary damages: The actor Gøril Mauseth demanded compensation from the Norwegian Broadcasting Company (NRK) in the aftermath of the screening of a nude scene including Mauseth from the movie Brent av frost, in conflict with a contract stipulating that this scene was not to be used in the purpose of marketing.