Shayna Matheny
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North Carolina, Year Licensed2021
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North Carolina, Rising Star2023-2025
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South Carolina, Year Licensed2024
Bio
Shayna Matheny is licensed to practice in North Carolina and South Carolina. She joined Collins Family & Elder Law Group as a Family Law Attorney in 2023 and is primarily based in our Fort Mill, South Carolina and Monroe, North Carolina offices. She services clients in upstate South Carolina and in Union and Gaston Counties in North Carolina. After receiving her associate degree, she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in jurisprudence from California University of Pennsylvania. She attended North Carolina Central University School of Law, where she graduated valedictorian of her class.
Experience & Scope of Practice
As a former military spouse, Shayna has lived all over the United States and spent three years in Mannheim, Germany. When her husband retired from the Army, she saw it as her opportunity to pursue her long-standing dream of attending law school. During law school, Shayna worked to expand her knowledge of family law and gain practical courtroom experience. In 2019, she served as a law clerk for Chief Justice Cheri Beasley at the North Carolina Supreme Court working on appellate cases, and during her last two years of law school, she worked at a local family law firm. In addition to serving as a teaching assistant for two subjects in law school, she also participated in NCCU’s Elder Law Clinic drafting estate planning documents for local residents.
In her final year of law school, she participated in NCCU School of Law’s Family Law Clinic, providing legal advice to family law clients and actively representing family law clients in litigation under the supervision of the clinic attorney. It was Shayna’s experience working with clients in the family law clinic that confirmed family law was the perfect fit for her.
Since 2021, Shayna has represented clients in all areas of family law, including equitable distribution, post-separation support, alimony, child custody, child support, adoptions, as well as some estate planning.
She was selected to the North Carolina Super Lawyers Rising Stars list in 2023, 2024, and 2025, a designation limited to no more than 2.5% of the attorneys licensed in North Carolina.
Education
- J.D., North Carolina Central University School of Law
- B.A., California University of Pennsylvania with a major in Jurisprudence and concentration in Legal Studies
Membership, Associations, & Awards
- Super Lawyers North Carolina Rising Star 2023, 2024, and 2025
- South Carolina Bar Association
- North Carolina Bar Association
- Union County Bar Association
- Valedictorian of her class in law school
- North Carolina Central University Law Review Notes and Comments Editor
Personal Interests
Shayna is a mother to three teenage boys and spends much of her free time attending their school and extracurricular events. When she’s not working, Shayna also enjoys reading dystopian fiction novels and learning to play piano.
Practice Philosophy
Shayna’s practice philosophy is heavily influenced by her personal experience with the family court system. In hindsight, there are many things that she wished she had known before beginning the litigation process. Now, as a family law attorney, it is her primary goal to ensure that her clients are educated about their rights, responsibilities, and their legal options. Shayna takes a collaborative approach in working with her clients to define realistic goals and outline a plan to achieve those goals. At the end of the day, she understands that divorce is often one of the most difficult experiences of a client’s life, and she strives to ensure that her clients are always fully aware of the law as it applies to their situation, allowing clients to feel empowered when making crucial decisions about settlement and litigation to assess the best path forward. It is her hope that her professional and personal experience will provide insight to clients and allow them to navigate this process with the end in mind, focusing on long-term solutions that allow her clients to make informed decisions about what is best for their family.
Client Testimonials
See What Our Clients Say About Us
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"Recommending her 1000%"
Shayna Matheny is incredibly amazing. She went above and beyond to help me in a very complicated case. She worked earnestly and did not give up the fight to get my kids and me the best outcome.
- Cecia Villalta