Regina Matthews

Judge

Regina is a native of Chicago, Illinois, where she graduated, with honors, through the Chicago Public School System. She left Chicago to attend the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina, where she completed her collegiate studies with high honors.

Following Judge Matthews’ studies at the USC, she relocated to Georgia in 2001 and earned her Juris Doctorate Degree from Emory Law School in 2004. During her tenure at Emory, she received several scholarships, to include the Emory Public Law Initiative Grant, and the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys Scholarship. These scholarships and grants helped Regina pursue paid summer internships with both the Chicago Legal Clinic, where she assisted attorneys in serving low-income residents in the Chicago area; and an internship with the DeKalb County Public Defender’s Office representing indigent clientele facing criminal prosecution in DeKalb County, Georgia.

Following her servant’s heart, upon graduation from Emory Law School, Judge Matthews was offered, and accepted, employment as an Assistant Public Defender at the Office of the Public Defender, DeKalb County, Georgia. In her first year of representing clients in court, Judge Matthews won twelve of her first fifteen trials.

Judge Matthews later started her own law practice specializing in Criminal Law, Family Law, and Juvenile Law. While in private practice, she earned certification for Alternative Dispute Resolution, which allowed her to mediate civil cases in the state of Georgia. In that capacity, Judge Matthews became an approved mediator for civil cases in Gwinnett County Courts.

Throughout her career she has tried cases in Superior Court, State Court, Juvenile Court, Municipal, and Recorder’s Court in courtrooms all across the state of Georgia. She also served as a Senior Staff Attorney in Gwinnett County Superior Court and as a Law Clerk with the United States District Court, Northern District of Georgia.

In 2020, Judge Matthews was appointed by all eleven Gwinnett County Superior Court Judges and the Chief Magistrate Judge of Gwinnett County to serve as a full-time Magistrate Judge, where Judge Matthews currently serves. In this role, Judge Matthews sits by designation primarily for Superior Court; but also handles cases in State Court, Recorder’s Court, Juvenile Court, and Probate Courts, presiding over a vast array of cases including family law, felony and misdemeanor criminal cases, and general civil litigation.

When not on the bench, or out serving the community, Judge Matthews can be found enthusiastically cheering on her two sons on the sidelines of the soccer field, gardening, traveling, reading, watching basketball, or enjoying the arts. Judge Matthews lives in Lilburn with her husband Michael, a Gwinnett County Public School teacher, and two sons.

Judge Matthews is a member of the Junior League of Gwinnett and North Fulton Counties, and Jack and Jill of America, Inc. Professionally, Judge Matthews is a long-time member of the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys and has held membership in the Gwinnett County Bar Association, the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers, and Gate City Bar Association.