Matthew Shafran

South Florida criminal defense attorney Matthew Shafran is a former prosecutor who handled felony cases in Palm Beach County. Now at Meltzer & Bell, P.A., he uses his experience on the other side of the law to defend clients facing a variety of criminal charges and traffic offenses throughout South Florida.

Matthew earned his bachelor's degree in criminology from Florida State University's College of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Soon after, he pursued his passion for law and earned his juris doctor from Nova Southeastern University’s Shepard Broad Law Center.

As a law student, Shafran was eager to gain hands-on experience in the legal field. He worked as a teaching and research assistant for his first-year criminal law professor and was able to assist cases for the Innocence Project, an organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals.

Later in his law school career Shafran was selected as a judicial intern for the Honorable Judge Thomas M. Lynch IV, who was presiding over one of several felony criminal trial divisions in Circuit Court for the 17th Judicial Circuit, located in Broward County. Shafran also served as a certified legal intern for the Office of the State Attorney.

After earning his juris doctor, he began his legal career as an Assistant State Attorney for the 15th Judicial Circuit. As a County Court prosecutor, he handled thousands of cases, sometimes more than 300 cases at one time.

He was promoted to Lead Attorney, where he had the responsibility of overseeing and teaching multiple prosecutors, and subsequently served in the Felony Trial Division. There he handled more than 150 felony cases, ranging from third-degree felony offenses to some of the most serious first-degree felony charges.

Matthew focuses on fighting for the rights of clients facing a plethora of criminal charges, including DUI, drug crimes, marijuana offenses, white collar crime, domestic violence, violent crimes and other offenses. He also represents clients through proceedings related to traffic violations, including careless driving, driving while license suspended and racing on a highway.