A native of Florence, Alabama, Samantha Smith spent nearly a decade working on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives before attending law school. Since 2004, she has defended public school boards and the State of Alabama Department of Education in civil rights and employment litigation matters involving Title VII, Title IX, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and Americans with Disabilities Act. She advised school boards and municipalities on matters pertaining to public construction, open government, land use, regulation, and taxation.