Matthew Shafran

Matthew Shafran is a criminal defense attorney with the Fort Lauderdale firm Meltzer & Bell, P.A., DUI and Criminal Trial Lawyers.

Matthew Shafran graduated from Florida State University in 2009 from the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Criminology. 

Following his undergraduate career, Matthew enrolled  at Nova Southeastern University’s Shepard Broad Law Center and obtained his Juris Doctor degree in 2012. 

While in law school Matthew worked as a teaching and research assistant for his first year criminal law professor. In this position he worked on cases for the Innocence Project, an organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals. He also held weekly workshops and tutoring sessions for first year law students, who needed additional assistance. 

Matthew Shafran became a judicial intern for the Honorable Judge Thomas M. Lynch IV. During his time as an intern, he was witnesswitnessed to numerous jury and non-jury trials, conducted research,  for and had many discussions with one of Broward County’s best judges. 

After completing his internship, Matthew worked as an intern and certified legal intern for the Office of the State Attorney in West Palm Beach, Florida. During his time there he gained valuable experience by ttrying various misdemeanor cases in front of a jury. Prior to the conclusion of his internship, Matthew was offered and accepted a position with the State Attorney’s Office upon graduation from law school.

After graduation, Matthew began his career as an Assistant State Attorney for the 15th Judicial Circuit, in West Palm Beach, Florida. As a County Court prosecutor, he Shafran handled many cases and over 300 cases at any given time.cases. He was first in his class to be promoted to Lead Attorney, where he was given the responsibility of overseeing and teaching multiple prosecutors. 

Matthew rose the ranks pretty quickly at the State Attorney’s Office and subsequently advanced to Felony Trial Division where he managed 150 felony cases. 

During his time as an Assistant State Attorney, Michael Shafran was known for being a fair, ethical and professional prosecutor who is committed to the advocacy of victims. 

In 2015 Shafran joined Meltzer & Bell. He has dedicated his practice to defending individuals with serious traffic offense and violations, including driving under suspension, reckless driving, and fleeing to elude.