Biography and expertise
Before joining the Texas State faculty full time in 2026, Ms. Smith defended the United States and its employees as a Senior Trial Counsel on the U.S. Department of Justice Constitutional Torts Staff (Attorney General's Honors Program, 2007). Ms. Smith graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 2007 and Smith College in 2003.
Education
Doctorate Degree
JD in Law-Jurisprudence
University of Texas at Austin, 2007
Bachelor's Degree
BA in English Language and Literature
Smith College, 2003
Teaching Interests
Research Interests
Featured scholarly/creative works
- Smith, L. K., & Mason, M. H. (n.d.). We Need to Talk About Bivens. Washington & Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice, (Fall 2026).
- Smith, L. K. (n.d.). Rights, Remedies, and Residential Treatment: A Recipe for Wicked Good Trouble. Texas Journal on Civil Liberties and Civil Rgiths, (Fall 2026).
- Smith, L. K., & Mason, M. H. (2026, October 20). Will the Supreme Court Finally Dismantle Bivens’s House of Cards? Lawfare. Retrieved from https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/will-the-supreme-court-finally-dismantle-bivens-s-house-of-cards
- Smith, L. K., & Cheaney, S. E. (2006). Staying Open: How Restricting Venue in Texas’s Judicial Bypass Cases Would Hurt Minors and Violate the Constitution. The Scholar: St. Mary’s Law Review on Race and Social Justice, 9, 45.
Featured service activities
- Participant
Bobcat Day
- University Mentor
Colin McFerrin, Advanced Legal Research and Writing Course