Matthew Justin Wilson
District Court Judge
1st Judicial District
Los Alamos, Rio Arriba, and Santa Fe Counties
Year: 2024
Evaluation: Judge Matthew Wilson's survey results were very positive. Attorneys rated him highly for punctuality, attentiveness and proper control over the proceedings, and for ensuring his personal staff is professional, productive, and knowledgeable. Court staff and jurors rated him positively on all attributes.
Judge Wilson offered JPEC thoughtful responses to comments from survey respondents. He described making a concentrated effort to become more knowledgeable about civil case law and procedures because his prior experience was in criminal and family law. He said he has tried to simplify legal terms for non-represented parties who appear before him. The judge acknowledged the long time getting cases to trial, and said he is doing what he can to move cases along. Judge Wilson's scores have improved in each evaluation since he became a judge.Experience & Education: Judge Matthew Wilson holds a bachelor's degree in history from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a law degree from Stetson University in Florida. He worked as an Assistant State Attorney, Assistant District Attorney and private attorney in Florida from 1997 to 2002. He was a New Mexico Assistant Attorney General in the Child Support Enforcement Division, then a hearing officer for the First Judicial District Court Family Law Division before his appointment to the bench in 2013.
PERCENTAGE THAT AGREE OR DISAGREE THAT THE JUDGE EXHIBITS POSITIVE QUALITIES IN EACH CATEGORY *
| Attorneys (n=154, 31% Response Rate) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Agree | Partly Agree/ Partly Disagree | Disagree |
| Exhibits Integrity | 92% | 6% | 2% |
| Fair and Impartial | 86% | 7% | 6% |
| Knowledgeable of Law | 84% | 11% | 4% |
| Communication is Clear | 91% | 6% | 3% |
| Appropriate Demeanor | 90% | 6% | 5% |
| Properly Controls Proceedings | 96% | 3% | 1% |
| Court Staff (n=17) | |||
| Category | Agree | Partly Agree/ Partly Disagree | Disagree |
| Exhibits Integrity | 94% | 0% | 6% |
| Respects Court Employees | 82% | 6% | 12% |
| Jurors (n=5, 42% Response Rate) | |||
| Category | Agree | Partly Agree/ Partly Disagree | Disagree |
| Exhibits Integrity | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Fair and Impartial | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Communication is Clear | 95% | 5% | 0% |
| Appropriate Demeanor | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Properly Controls Proceedings | 100% | 0% | 0% |
*On the tables above, the “Agree” columns are comprised of the strongly agree and agree responses. Similarly, the “Disagree” columns are comprised of the strongly disagree and disagree responses. The combined percentage of “Agree”, “Disagree”, and “Partly Agree/Partly Disagree” for each category may not equal 100% due to rounding error. Some of the percentages that are reported in the above categories are an average of more than one question that appeared on the survey.