Hon. Veronica Higgs Cope

State Court of Gwinnett County

Judge Veronica Cope was elected to the Gwinnett County State Court bench in June 2020. A native of Tarboro, NC, Veronica practiced law in Gwinnett County and the Metropolitan Atlanta area for over 19 years. Veronica is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she earned dual Batchelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and African and Afro-American Studies. She also graduated from the University of North Carolina’s School of Law where she served as the Symposium Editor as a member of the North Carolina Law Review. Judge Cope is a Past President of the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers (GAWL), an organization of over 800 women statewide which has as its mission to enhance the welfare and development of women lawyers and to support their interests. She was previously the President of GAWL Gwinnett and served as the President of the GAWL Foundation from 2012-2013. As President of the GAWL Foundation.

 Veronica along with her board, worked tirelessly to award grants for nonprofit organizations with a focus on assisting women and children in the legal system, providing meals and services to the Nicholas House, a shelter for families in transition, and awarding scholarships for young women with a desire to work in the public interest sector. She has mentored countless younger lawyers and has served as a facilitator for the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys’ Judicial and Public Office Academy.

Veronica is an active member of the community and is a public servant in every sense of the word. She is a member of the Gwinnett County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and is actively involved in a number of community service initiatives. Veronica is also a charter member of the Gwinnett Section of the National Council of Negro Women which works to lead, advocate for, and empower women of African descent.

She served as the Section’s inaugural Parliamentarian and Chair of the Bylaws Committee for three years. As an attorney, Veronica also gave back to the community by often handling criminal and juvenile matters on a pro bono or reduced fee basis to ensure that citizens had equal access to justice. Veronica practiced as a general litigator with diverse practice experience and has taken both civil and criminal matters to trial.

She has practiced in a number of areas including complex commercial litigation, insurance defense, auto warranty litigation defense, criminal defense and juvenile law. Veronica has also served as a guest lecturer for Emory Law School’s Introduction to Legal Advocacy class. Veronica is a graduate of Leadership Gwinnett, GLANCE Gwinnett (a Leadership Gwinnett program), Leadership DeKalb, GAWL’s Leadership Academy, and the Young Lawyers Division of the State Bar of Georgia’s Leadership Academy.
When Veronica is not on the bench or serving the community, she enjoys spending quality time with her sons Robin, Jr., Dawson, and Dustin and playing and watching sports.