Rising Stars: Meet Veronica Cope

Today we’d like to introduce you to Veronica Cope.

Hi Veronica, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Growing up in Tarboro, which is located in Eastern North Carolina, I knew from the age of eight that I wanted to be a lawyer. Even as a young girl, I witnessed a lot of injustices and knew that I wanted to be able to protect individual rights and become a voice for the voiceless. Coming from very humble means, I watched those around me and I saw that the difference in whether people lived in lack or comfortably oftentimes hinged largely on whether they were college-educated or not. When it was time to go to college, I was blessed to have both academic and athletic scholarships to pay for college as I knew that despite their hard work in providing for my three siblings and I, my parents could not afford to send me to college. I had some considerations some other high school graduates may not have had in choosing a college… a 5-year-old son whom I needed and wanted to be close to. I had become a mother before I became a teen and I was determined to create a good life for him.

Ultimately, I went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where I earned dual undergraduate degrees in Political Science and African and Afro-American Studies. I remained at Carolina for law school, where I was a Symposium Editor for the North Carolina Law Review. My first job after law school was in Big Law at a firm in downtown Atlanta which is one of the biggest law firms in the country. I had the opportunity to work for Fortune50 companies as a business litigation associate, but I knew that ultimately I wanted to become a criminal defense attorney. After working as a civil litigator for nine years at big and small law firms, during which time I became licensed in South Carolina and Alabama and handled cases in all three states, in 2010, I realized my dream of becoming a criminal defense lawyer as a solo practitioner with my own law firm. Over the last ten years, I have handled cases ranging from misdemeanor traffic offenses to aggravated assault, juvenile delinquency cases, and some personal injury matters. I didn’t know it at the time, but all of my diverse practice experience was preparing me to become a judge. Throughout my career, I have always enjoyed being an advocate for my clients. Being a judge one day was not on my list of aspirations until about five years ago.

At that time, when I had about 15 years of experience, I said that I wanted to think about being a judge when I had about 20 years of experience under my belt. But as we all know, we have our plans and then God has his plan for us. The first mention of me thinking about becoming a judge was in early 2017 when I was strongly “encouraged” to run for judge by two friends in the Gwinnett County legal system. Ironically, they both told me they heard I was running for a judge as there were three judges retiring- one on the Gwinnett State Court bench and two on the Gwinnett Superior Court bench. What was interesting to me was that I had never expressed to anyone my desire to become a judge. At that time it was a mere thought for the future. I had not planned to run for judge at that time. After a lot of planning and prayer, I decided to run for Gwinnett Superior Court Judge. While my initial campaign was not successful, I didn’t consider it a failure. We laid the groundwork for what I knew would be another campaign as I knew that I would run again since I believed serving as a judge was a part of my purpose. I met a lot of people and learned a lot of lessons that I knew would be helpful when I ran again.

In early 2019, I learned that a judge was retiring from the State Court bench in 2020. Although I had never really stopped campaigning, we began again in earnest. We attended as many events as possible in Gwinnett and throughout the metropolitan Atlanta area spreading the word about “CopeForJudge” and how I intended to serve the community as a judge with compassion, courtesy, and a commitment to being fair and impartial. As a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., service is a huge part of my life. For me, becoming a judge was not about the power or fan-fare or prestige, but about using my talents and G0d-given abilities to serve the community. After running in a 5-person race for Gwinnett Superior Court Judge in 2018, during which our campaign made it to the run-off election in 2020, I ran unopposed for Gwinnett State Court Judge. When I learned that no one else had qualified to run for State Court Judge in March, to say that I was shocked is an understatement as I can not recall anyone ever running unopposed for an elected judicial position. It was a testament to the hard work that Team CopeForJudge and I had put into our campaign and further confirmation that I was right where I was supposed to be and evidence of a dream deferred but not denied.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not been a smooth road. Obstacles and hurdles have shown themselves at every turn. Trying to navigate obtaining an education as a teen mom and later in college and law school was extremely difficult. Fortunately, due to the sacrifices of my Dad, Nathan Higgs, and my late Mom, Stella Malone Higgs, I had the love and support I needed to make it through school even when others counted me out and gave up any hope that I would finish high school- let alone college and law school. My son remained with my mom in Tarboro through college and came to live with me in Chapel Hill as I pursued my law degree. Needless to say, my son spent a lot of time with me in the law library as I tried to keep up with my studies. My family also stepped in when it was time for me to complete my summer internships during the summers between my second and third years of law school. Losing my mom at the young age of 57 to pancreatic cancer also shook me to the core and challenged my faith. My mom had been my biggest cheerleader, supporter, and source of strength and losing her was extremely hard for me.

I would often lean on her for advice. Though she only completed a high school education and some college courses at the local community college, her wisdom was beyond anything I could ever learn from a book or a professor. Her “life education” and wisdom she passed on to me have taught me more than any university ever could. Working full time as a sole practitioner and campaigning was no small feat either. As the mom of two young sons (my oldest son now an adult), fundraising and scheduling and attending events was a difficult task, but again, my village stepped up to the plate. I could not have done it without the help of babysitters, family, friends, and amazing campaign chairs, team members, church members and volunteers who also sacrificed time away from their careers and family to assist with the campaign. I am forever grateful for their support along this journey.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As a State Court Judge, I am a trial judge and I hear criminal and civil matters. State Court judges preside over misdemeanor crimes- those crimes punishable by up to 12 months in jail and/or a $1,000.00 fine. I also handle all civil matters, with the exception of matters related to property and domestic cases such as divorce, custody and child support. There is no jurisdictional limit so State Court judges hear cases ranging from minor contract cases to multi-million dollar personal injury matters. The overwhelming majority of cases I hear are civil matters, although I handle many criminal misdemeanor cases as well. Outside of the courtroom, I am very active in the legal community and the community at large. I presently serve as the statewide president of the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers (GAWL) which is an organization of over 750 members across the state which has as its mission “to enhance the welfare and development of women lawyers and to support their interests.”

I am also actively involved in the Lawrenceville Kiwanis Club which serves kids and teens and the Gwinnett County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., which serves the community through a number of different initiatives. I am also a charter member and officer of the Gwinnett Section of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW). Gwinnett NCNW works to address the needs of and advocate for women of African descent and their families and communities. Professionally, I am most proud of the work that I have done to protect the rights and interests of hundreds of individuals throughout Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina over the last ten years of my career. While it has been an amazing experience to defend large corporations and to save them millions of dollars over the years as a civil defense attorney, fearlessly and zealously advocating for the rights of individuals as a criminal defense attorney has been the most rewarding and satisfying part of my 19-year legal career to this point. Being recognized by my peers a SuperLawyer in the area of Criminal Defense has also been a highlight of my career.

What’s next?
As a new Gwinnett State Court Judge, I am excited about serving the community in this new capacity. In the near future, I hope to begin a Second Chance Teen Court. This program will allow individuals 17-25 charged with nonviolent misdemeanor crimes to obtain an education, job training, and/or a trade, which will, in turn, reduce recidivism (reoffending within three years) and allow them to become productive citizens while also holding them accountable. I also hope to work to expand the State Court’s Mental Health Accountability program to make it more accessible to individuals suffering from mental health issues. My goal is to utilize restorative justice principles where possible and practical while simultaneously keeping the community safer by utilizing harsher penalties on hardened criminals who have proven they are a threat to the community.

Image Credits
Judge Wesley Person