Born in Raleigh, North Carolina, Matsumoto graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1976 and later from the Georgetown University Law Center with a Juris Doctor in 1981.

From 2004 to 2008, Matsumoto served as a United States magistrate judge in the Eastern District of New York.

In 2008, Matsumoto was nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York by President George W. Bush on March 11, 2008, to a seat vacated by Judge Edward R. Korman.

[2] Born to second-generation Japanese American parents, Matsumoto became the second Asian Pacific American woman to serve as a federal district court judge.

[3] Matsumoto presided over the Martin Shkreli securities fraud trial.