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Catching up with former Law Student of the Year: Carson Smith

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Each year, The National Jurist recognizes a new group of Law Students of the Year from nominations sent by law schools nominating their top students. These students leave their mark on their law schools and surrounding communities. Carson Smith, now a Wake Forest University School of Law graduate, was on our list of Law Students of the Year in 2016.

In 2016, Carson Smith shared his passion for working for underserved communities and his goal of working as a public defender in Charlotte, N.C. While in law school, he spearheaded the development of two projects: the Education Justice Project and the Educational Surrogate Project. Both served to advocate for the rights of students with disabilities. He also served as the coordinator for the law school and YWCA’s Teen Court program.

“I worked in management and sales for four years after college,” Smith said in 2016. “While I was making good money, I didn’t find the work fulfilling. To fill that void, I started volunteering in the Charlotte community and quickly realized that serving the poor and disadvantaged brought me a lot of joy. Once I found my passion, everything else fell into place.”

Smith is now an assistant public defender for Mecklenburg County Public Defender’s Office in North Carolina. He spends his day speaking with clients, negotiating with assistant district attorneys, reading discovery and advocating for clients in court. Many of his clients suffer from housing insecurity, drug abuse and mental health challenges.

“My day-to-day job is full of advocacy,” Smith said. “It can be very dehumanizing and traumatizing for my clients to be treated as just another number in the system.”

Beyond his job, he has helped start a countywide expunction clinic for people who want to clean up their criminal records. This can lead to them getting better jobs and housing. Both in his career and law school, Smith has learned many lessons.

“I learned that the person who speaks up the most in class or sounds the smartest isn’t necessarily going to be the best lawyer,” Smith said. “The best attorneys are the ones who stay true to themselves and don’t try to copy others. In fact, sounding smart isn’t helpful when trying to talk to clients. Clients want you to meet them at their level.”

Smith said that law school teaches you the legal fundamentals, but the most important quality of a good lawyer is client communication. He believes you can get the best outcomes for your clients by being reliable, building trust, and explaining concepts in an understanding way for clients.

While Smith has seen a lot of success, he has also had his fair share of struggles. He explains that being a lawyer can be exhausting.

“There is a tremendous amount of pressure that comes with representing clients,” Smith said. “In my job, my performance could be the difference between someone going to prison for years or remaining free.”

He has also struggled with having jaded thoughts toward the criminal justice system.

“So many of the most powerful people in the system — district attorney, judges, sheriff — are political appointees and therefore the decisions made in the courtroom are often motivated by job security and self-interest rather than what’s right or best for the community,” Smith said. “Usually, my clients are the last people considered when politics are involved.”

His proudest accomplishment since graduating has nothing to do with his career. Smith’s wife, who he met in law school, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer in 2020. He said that being there for her during that time and seeing her come out the other side as a cancer survivor is by far his proudest accomplishment.

Within his work, his proudest accomplishment was representing a 17-year-old who was racially profiled at a local department store and charged with crimes he did not commit. The judge threw out the charges based on perjured testimony. He got to see his client graduate from high school and was recognized in the local paper.

See who else we caught up with, in the Winter 2023 issue of preLaw magazine!

Julia Brunette Johnson

Julia Brunette Johnson

Julia is a contributing reporter for the National Jurist and preLaw magazines.

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