Joseph F. Rice School of Law
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- Laura Matthews-Jolly
Directory
Laura Matthews-Jolly
| Title: | Assistant Professor |
| Joseph F. Rice School of Law | |
| Email: | lm140@mailbox.sc.edu |
| Phone: | 803-544-1125 |
| Office: | 1525 Senate Street Columbia, SC 29208 |
| Resources: | CV |
Background
Laura Matthews-Jolly joined the University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School
of Law in 2026. Her research examines the family regulation system, including the
enforcement of child neglect and abuse laws, the role of the judiciary in applying
these laws, and how families experience government intervention. Her recent scholarship
has appeared or is forthcoming in the North Carolina Law Review and the Stanford Journal of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. Her writing has also appeared in popular media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal and Chicago Tribune.
Professor Matthews-Jolly’s research is informed by her practice experience representing
parents, children, and families for nearly a decade. She served, among other positions,
as an Equal Justice Works Fellow at the City Bar Justice Center and as a public defender
in the family defense unit at Brooklyn Defender Services.
She teaches civil procedure and family law related courses at USC. Before joining
the faculty, she was an Assistant Professor at North Carolina Central University School
of Law. She also taught as a clinical teaching fellow and lecturer at Loyola University
Chicago School of Law. She received her J.D. from CUNY School of Law and her B.A.
from Vassar College. Prior to law school, she was a Fulbright Scholar in South Korea.
Selected Scholarship
Articles
- Adjudicating Obedience, __ Stanford Journal of Civil Rights & Civil Liberties __ (forthcoming 2026).
- Visitation as Family Regulation, 103 North Carolina Law Review 521 (2025).
Book Chapters
- Child Participation and Child Advocacy: Integrating Children’s Voices and Interests in Family Dispute Resolution, in Family Desupte Resolution (Salem & Olson, eds.) (Oxford Univ. Press 2024) (with Stacey Platt).
Education
- J.D., City University of New York
- B.A., Vassar College