William Matthew “Matt” Roberts was born in East Point, Georgia on December 29, 1975. He was raised in Forest Park and moved with his family to Henry County when he was ten years old. Matt attended public school and graduated from Stockbridge High School in 1994.
He graduated magna cum laude from Georgia State University in 2000 with a B.A. degree in Political Science (With Distinction) and History, and was awarded Research Honors. During his undergraduate career, he interned with the Georgia Legislative Internship Program at the Georgia General Assembly (1998), the Governor’s Internship Program at the Southern Center for International Studies (1998), the Democracy Program at The Carter Presidential Center (2000), and interned with a British Member of the European Parliament and studied European politics at the University Libre de Bruxelles through the University of Rochester Internships in Europe Program in Brussels, Belgium (1999).
Before going to law school, Matt served as the Assistant to Georgia Governor Roy E. Barnes from 2000-2001. He attended the University of Georgia School of Law where he received a Juris Doctor degree in 2004. While in law school, he interned with the Georgia Municipal Association (2003) and the law school’s Land Use Clinic (2003). He was also an active member of the Black Law Students Association, was Co-President of the Georgia Society of International and Comparative Law, served as an Editorial Board member (2002-2003) and Managing Editor (2003-2004) of the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law, and was an Investigator and Chief Investigator of the Honor Court Investigators Committee (2001-2004).
Matt returned to Henry County after law school and served as the Law Clerk to the Honorable James T. Chafin, III, Judge, Henry County State Court from 2005-2007. Matt joined Smith, Welch & Brittain, L.L.P. as an Associate in 2007, where he currently practices Family Law and Criminal Defense Law.
Matt was admitted to the Georgia Bar in September 2005, is a member of the Henry County Bar Association, the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, The Family Law and Criminal Law sections of the State Bar of Georgia, and is admitted to practice before all Georgia trial court, the Court of Appeals of Georgia, the Supreme Court of Georgia, and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
Matt has volunteered as an Attorney Coach for the Stockbridge High School Mock Trial Team since 2006, and is a member of the Leadership Henry Class of 2007-2008. Matt is also a former Substitute Teacher with the Henry County Board of Education. Matt lives in McDonough.