Biography
Nancy Erika Smith is a high-ranked lawyer based in America. She is the co-founder of the SmithMullin law firm which is one of the biggest law firms in New Jersey. As an attorney, she mostly specializes in areas related to Employment, and Civil Rights.
She was born in 1960 and she is 63 years old as of the time of writing this article in 2023 and she will be 64 in 2024.
The New Jersey girl has gotten so many accolades throughout her career and she is considered as one of the best female lawyers in America. She has been awarded ” Best Lawyer in America” since 1986. In April 2009 She was listed as ” Top Ten ” best lawyers in New Jersey. Her life story was interesting.
Early Life
Nancy Erika Smith was born and raised in New Jersey, America into a Middle-class Christian family and he has lived all his life in his home country America. According to some sources, Erika’s childhood was a tough one, her parents divorced when she was still young. She was raised by a single parent who was said to be her mother. Her mother oversaw her general welfare from a tender age till she grew up into a full-blown adult who was able to cater to her personal well-being. There was not much impact of her father in her life growing up as a child.
Education
No doubt Nancy got an appropriate education which enabled her to attain the level she is today as a lawyer. She had her primary and high school education in schools located in New Jersey, after her high school education she proceeded to Montclair State College, B.S., where she graduated in 1977, with a Summa Cum Laude. After that, she also proceeded to Rutgers School of Law – Newark, New Jersey where she graduated with a degree in law in 1980.
Career
After her graduation from the Rutgers School of Law, Erika began employment in a labor and employment litigation firm. In 1986 she and her partner Neil Mullin formed the firm that became Smith Mullin. Smith’s dedication to and expertise in employment law has garnered Smith Mullin tremendous success since its beginning. Nancy Smith has litigated many landmark cases such as Slohoda v. United Parcel Service, Donelson and Seddon v. Dupont, Rendine v. Pantzer, and Caggiano v. Fontura. Nancy Smith and Neil Mullin worked for over 20 years on Landano v. Rafferty, a pro bono case in which they successfully obtained the freedom of a man wrongly convicted of killing a police officer.
Erika has been outstanding throughout her career as a lawyer and she has won several important cases which have elevated her career reputation and made her one of the best lawyers in America. Some of the important cases she has won are as follows;
Hester v. NJ Transit
Wagner v. UMDNJ
Errickson v. Hunterdon County
Prosecutor’s Office
Cammarata & Gutkin v. Fairfield
Seddon v. Dupont
Donofrio v. Warren Township
Caggiano v. Fontoura
Zacharias v. Whatman
Gerardi v. Mul-T-Lock
Denny v. Seamen
Kessler v. WWOR-TV
Jorgensen v. Prudential Insurance Company
Rendine v. Pantzer
Harmon v. A & P
Rademacher v. IBM
Slohoda v. UPS
Nancy is a bonafide member of the following organizations;
AMERICAN BAR FOUNDATION
Elected Fellow, May 2013
NEW JERSEY ASSOCIATION FOR JUSTICE
Board of Governors
NEW JERSEY STATE BAR ASSOCIATION
Women in the Profession Section
Individual Rights Section
Labor and Employment Section, former chair
AMERICAN COLLEGE OF EMPLOYMENT LAWYERS
NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT LAWYERS ASSOCIATION
Former Member, Executive Board
ESSEX COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION
Former Member, Board of Trustees
Former Member Judicial Appointments Committee (AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR JUSTICE)
Speaking Engagements and Committee Involvement
Nancy Erika Smith has spoken extensively at various conferences and summits. In September 2009, she taught a course to judges and barristers at Oxford University on issues related to employment law and discrimination. She has chaired the Employment Law Program at the New Jersey Judicial College, the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Bench Bar Conference, and the annual ICLE Labor Law Forum for many years. In early 2011, Nancy Smith moderated a panel of current and former female New Jersey Supreme Court Justices for the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Women in the Professional Section.
She has also served full terms on the Supreme Court Ethics Committee and the Supreme Court Attorney’s Fee Arbitration Committee for Suburban Essex. She was elected Chair of the Labor and Employment Section of the NJSBA.
Nancy Smith is admitted to the New Jersey State Bar (1980); the U.S. District Court of New Jersey (1980); the U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit (1985); and the United States Supreme Court (1986).
Net worth
Nancy’s net worth is guesstimated to be around $5 to $10 million dollars. Her sources of wealth and income are through her job as an attorney.
Awards and Accolades
The Best Lawyers in America (2021 Edition) – August 2020
Ranked No. 5 in the NJBIZ Law Power 50 List – June 2020
The Best Lawyers in America (2019 Edition) – August 2018
Insider NJ’s 2017 Insider 100 Policy Makers – June 2018
NJBIZ Vanguard Series: Leaders in Law — June 2018
Samuel S. Saiber Professional Achievement Award from the Essex County Bar Association – April 2018
Steven F. Sharp Public Service Award by The American Association for Justice – July 2017
Anne Frank Award from the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect – June 2017
NJAJ Gold Medal for Distinguished Service – April 2017
2014 Professional Lawyer of the Year Award by the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law – 2014
Named to the SuperLawyers list – 2014
Selected as the NJAJ recipient for the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism’s Lawyer of the Year Award – 2014
Recently Elected as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation – 2013
NAACP Honorable Constance Baker Motley Legal Redress Award Recipient – November 2012
Arthur Vanderbilt Award Recipient presented by the New Jersey State Bar Association for distinguished service in contributing to the improvement of the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of the judicial system.
Garden State Equality – Equality Company of the Year Award for commitment to equality for the LGBT community – 2011
2010 Irish Woman of the Year Recipient by Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo – 2010
Named Distinguished Alumna of Rutgers School of Law-Newark – October 2009
Top Ten Lawyer in New Jersey Recipient from Superlawyers – April 2009
Shirley Chisholm Award Recipient from Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver for her achievements in law and child advocacy – April 2009
Platinum Award Recipient from New Jersey Women Lawyers for leadership and initiative in the law – 2008
Senator Menendez passed a Special State Recognition for her work promoting the civil rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender citizens – in 2007
New Jersey Lesbian and Gay Coalition Rebecca Locketz Legal Award Recipient for her contributions as a leader in the community to ensure LGBTI rights – 2007
Leadership Award Recipient from the National Children’s Alliance, nominated by Governor Jon Corzine and New Jersey Senator John Adler for her work with abused children – May 2006
President’s Meritorious Service Award Recipient from the International Association of Official Human Rights Agencies – 2006
Trial Bar Award Recipient from the Trial Attorneys of New Jersey for Distinguished Service in the Cause of Justice – 2004
Samuel S. Saiber Professional Achievement Award Recipient from the Essex County Bar Association for her work and leadership in the Bar, pro bono work after September 11 – May 2002
Moderator, NJ Supreme Court Committee on Women in the Courts – February 2001
Elected as Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers – 2000
Founder, Wynona’s House, a non-profit child advocacy center in Newark that promotes a multi-disciplinary approach to finding justice for abused children – 2000
Recognized as Employment Litigation Specialist by Best Lawyers in America – 1986 – Present
*Nancy Erika Smith was selected to the 2016 Super Lawyers list. The Super Lawyers list is issued by Thomson Reuters. A description of the selection methodology can be found here. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
Smith Mullin is Recognized by Best Lawyers
Social handle
Nancy erika smith has only two social media pages. One is her Facebook page and the second one which is her Twitter page, you can easily connect with her through her Twitter handle because she is more active on Twitter than she is on Facebook. The link to her real social media pages can be found below.
Facebook: @nancyerikasmith
Twitter handle: @nancyerikasmith (https://twitter.com/nancyerikasmith/with_replies)
You can also get to know about her firm through her official website with the link below.
Website; https://www.smithmullin.com/
You May Also Want to Read
Col Jonathan Chung Biography, Early Life, Education, Career, Marriage
Raoul Moat Biography, Early Life, Relationship, Parents, What did Raoul Moat do?