Leslee Matthews

2:45 pm – 4:00 pm – Plenary – Forty Years Later: Is the Criminalization of Domestic Violence Working?

Leslee Matthews is the Founder & Managing Attorney for Speak Out & Up Law Firm. As a Social Worker and attorney, Leslee is an advocate for social justice and passionate about connecting the community with resources.

Leslee earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Texas Woman’s University and her Master’s in Social Work at the University of Texas at Arlington, graduating Magna Cum Laude. She served in the Special Victims Section of the Fort Worth Police Department as the Family Violence Specialist. She worked with victims and surviving families of violent personal crimes, with a specialization in serving victims of family violence. She also became a certified Domestic Violence Instructor trained by the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.

Leslee grew up in Maui and moved back to Hawai‘i to attend law school where she earned her Juris Doctor from the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Following law school, Leslee served as a Legislative Attorney and a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney. She is the Vice President of African Americans on Maui Association, President of the African American Lawyers Association of Hawaiʻi, Immediate Past President of the Maui County Bar Association, Board Member on the HSBA’s Government Lawyers Section, and a Member of the Women’s Prison Project. Leslee serves as Special Counsel to the Judiciary and a Lecturer for the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.