Abbe Smith facts for kids

Abbe Lyn Smith (born September 22, 1956) is an American lawyer and law professor. She teaches at Georgetown University Law Center. Ms. Smith helps people who are accused of crimes. She also works with people in prison.

Before joining Georgetown Law, Smith worked as a lawyer in Philadelphia. She also taught at Harvard Law School. Professor Smith often writes and talks about the justice system. She focuses on how lawyers defend people. She also writes about what is fair for young people in the legal system. Smith wrote a book about helping Patsy Kelly Jarrett. Jarrett was found guilty of a crime but always said she was innocent. Smith worked for many years to help her.

Education and Early Work

Abbe Smith earned her first degree from Yale College in 1978. She then got her law degree from New York University School of Law in 1982. While in law school, she started working on a special case. She helped Patsy Kelly Jarrett, who was in prison. Jarrett had been found guilty of murder and robbery in 1977. But Jarrett always said she did not do it. Smith worked on Jarrett's case for 25 years.

From 2005 to 2006, Smith was a Fulbright Program scholar. She studied at the University of Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia.

Working as a Lawyer

Helping People in Court

After law school, Ms. Smith started working in Philadelphia. She was an assistant public defender. This means she helped people who could not afford a lawyer. She worked in special defense units. She also became a senior trial attorney. While working as a public defender, Smith also began teaching. She taught criminal law at City University of New York Law School.

Teaching Law

In 1990, Smith moved to Harvard Law School. There, she helped lead the Criminal Justice Institute. This program teaches students how to defend people in criminal cases. She also taught in Harvard's Trial Advocacy Workshop. This workshop helps students learn how to argue cases in court.

Smith joined the Georgetown University Law Center in 1996. She is now the Director of the Criminal Defense and Prisoner Advocacy Clinic. This clinic helps law students learn to defend people. It also helps people who are in prison.

From 1994 to 2005, Smith was the lawyer for Patsy Kelly Jarrett. Smith reached out to reporters and wrote about Kelly's case. In 2003, she convinced a filmmaker named Ofra Bikel to include Jarrett's story in a TV show. The show was called Frontline. It aired in 2004. In March 2005, a board reviewed Jarrett's case. They watched Bikel's film. After seeing the film, Jarrett was released from prison. Smith's book about this case, Case of a Lifetime, was recognized for its story.

In 2010, she was chosen to be part of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers. She also serves on the boards of other groups. These groups include the Bronx defenders and the National Juvenile Defender Center. In 2012, she received an award for her teaching from New York University School of Law.

Books Written by Abbe Smith

• How Can You Represent Those People? (edited with Monroe Freedman, 2013).
• Understanding Lawyers' Ethics (with Monroe Freedman, 4th edition 2010).
• Case of a Lifetime: A Criminal Defense Lawyer's Story (2008).