Biography

Professor Katz Smith teaches and writes at the intersection of community lawyering, poverty law and policy, criminal legal system reform, and experiential legal education. Through the Community Lawyering Clinic, she supervises law students representing clients and partnering with neighborhood organizations on community-driven advocacy initiatives throughout Philadelphia. Her teaching emphasizes collaborative, community-centered approaches to legal practice and the development of reflective, ethical lawyers committed to advancing justice alongside the communities they serve.

A significant focus of Professor Katz Smith’s work involves second-chance advocacy. She developed the Clinic’s commutation program, which works with incarcerated individuals, community leaders, advocacy organizations, and university partners to support clemency and reentry efforts in Pennsylvania. She has also developed the Clinic’s work at SCI Chester’s nationally recognized Little Scandinavia unit, where students collaborate with incarcerated residents on parole support and re-entry.

Professor Katz Smith is also a co-founder of the Drexel Justice Collaborative, an interdisciplinary initiative dedicated to advancing evidence-based justice policy, community engagement, and innovative approaches to legal and correctional reform. In partnership with colleagues across the university, she helps lead programs connecting students, faculty, practitioners, and community members around issues of justice, incarceration, and social change.

In addition to directing the Community Lawyering Clinic, Professor Katz Smith teaches Poverty Law, Legislation and Regulation, Torts, and Scandinavian Perspectives on Justice and Humanity, an international comparative program examining Scandinavian approaches to criminal justice and prison reform. Her teaching is grounded in experiential learning, community partnership, and the belief that legal education should prepare students to serve as thoughtful, creative, and collaborative advocates.

Before joining the Drexel faculty, Professor Katz Smith practiced at Blank Rome LLP, served as a legal fellow with the American Civil Liberties Union, and worked as in-house counsel and a producer for History Making Productions. She clerked for the Honorable Joseph H. Rodriguez of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Professor Katz Smith received her J.D., magna cum laude, from Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law, where she served as Executive Articles Editor of the inaugural volume of the Drexel Law Review.