Amanda D. Smith is the pro bono partner at Morgan Lewis. In this full-time position, Ms. Smith works to advance the quality of pro bono opportunities for Morgan Lewis lawyers, the effectiveness and impact of the firm's pro bono representations, and the breadth of participation in the firm's extensive pro bono program. She also handles the day-to-day administration of the pro bono practice, serves as a liaison with national and local legal services organizations, and provides recommendations to firm management on pro bono issues.
Ms. Smith joined Morgan Lewis in 2003 in the Litigation Practice, and focused on the areas of insurance recovery and appellate litigation. In 2005, she was selected as Morgan Lewis's first pro bono counsel. Ms. Smith's pro bono practice has focused on human rights litigation under the Alien Tort Statute. As part of a larger team, she obtained a $140 million judgment on behalf of four Bosnian Muslims who had been detained and tortured in the former Yugoslavia and a $37 million judgment on behalf of two Peruvian women who had seen their mothers and siblings killed by the Peruvian military. Ms. Smith's other pro bono work includes criminal defense, asylum, homelessness and domestic violence advocacy, election law, veterans law, and general legal assistance and strategic advice to nonprofit organizations. Ms. Smith serves on boards of the National Veterans Legal Services Program and the Association of Pro Bono Counsel and is a frequent panelist at the Pro Bono Institute and Equal Justice Conferences.
Prior to joining Morgan Lewis, Ms. Smith practiced at leading firms in San Francisco and in New York City. She earned her J.D., cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School in 1997 and her M.St., with distinction, in international human rights law from the University of Oxford in 2005. She also earned her B.A., magna cum laude, from Carleton College in 1994.
Ms. Smith is admitted to practice in New York and California.
