Matthew Lufrano

Mr. Lufrano began his law career as an Assistant Public Defender in Jacksonville. As an APD, he hit the ground running, initially defending clients charged with misdemeanors before ultimately defending others facing felonies. In 2012, Mr. Lufrano was named the 4th Circuit Public Defender’s Office Trial Attorney of the Year. Moreover, during his four-year tenure as an APD Mr. Lufrano tried cases ranging from theft and DUI to first-degree murder. Then in early 2014, Mr. Lufrano left the Public Defender’s Office with his good friend and colleague Diana L. Johnson. Their goal was to form a criminal law attorney near Jacksonville that could represent a client at all three possible levels of criminal prosecution: pretrial, trial and appeal. It was out of this dream that Johnson and Lufrano, P.A. was born, and firm operated under this name until 2020 when Ms. Johnson left the firm to serves as the Public Defender’s Director of Juvenile Defense. But following Ms. Johnson’s departure Mr. Lufrano has continued to operate the firm and defend the accused throughout Northeast Florida under the new firm name of Lufrano Legal, P.A.

Originally hailing from Chicago Illinois, Matthew Lufrano moved to Jacksonville, Florida at the age of six. It was in this wonderful city that Mr. Lufrano grew up, and he remained in for the next twelve years. During this time Mr. Lufrano attended Jacksonville Episcopal High School until his graduation in 2002. In fact it wasn’t until college that he took a brief leave of absence from the city that he again calls home. Mr. Lufrano then attended the University of Florida in Gainesville for his undergraduate studies. There he studied both political science and psychology. In 2006, he was inducted into the prestigious honors society, Phi Beta Kappa, and graduated cum laude with bachelor’s degrees in both political science and psychology. During his undergraduate years, Mr. Lufrano developed an intense passion for community service, and that drive to help others is something that remains with him to this day. Upon finishing his undergraduate work, Mr. Lufrano remained at the University of Florida to study law. It was during the first semester of law school that he received the book award for professional responsibility. Following his first year of studies at law school, Mr. Lufrano interned for the Federal Public Defenders Office in Jacksonville, FL. As a legal intern, he learned about the vast web of vibrations that a criminal proceeding can have, as well as the importance of a vigorous defense. After this internship, he returned to Gainesville to complete his legal studies, but his passion for criminal defense never wavered and in 2009, Mr. Lufrano obtained his Juris Doctor and took his place as a defender of the accused.