Mailee R. Smith
 

Mailee R. Smith, Esq.

Staff Counsel

 

Mailee R. Smith joined Americans United for Life (AUL) in January of 2005.  Among her many responsibilities at AUL, Smith consults with legislators on life-affirming legislation in the areas of parental involvement before abortion, informed consent before abortion, bioethics, and end-of-life issues.  Smith also drafts amicus curiae briefs on behalf of AUL and its clients to educate federal and state courts across the nation on pro-life issues.

 

In addition to these legislative and litigation-related responsibilities, Smith serves as Associate Editor of AUL's annual publication Defending Life: Proven Strategies for a Pro-Life America.  She also authored several articles in Defending Life on issues such as parental consent, RU-486, and physician-assisted suicide.  

 

Before joining AUL, Smith worked at a private law firm practicing insurance defense.  Prior to that experience, she served as a clerk to Federal District Judge Kenneth Ryskamp of the Southern District of Florida.  There, she drafted the judge's orders on motions regarding both federal and state law, analyzing varying issues ranging from the dormant commerce clause to civil rights to securities.

 

Smith received her J.D. in 2003 from Valparaiso University School of Law, where she graduated in the top 5% of her class.  While in school, she interned for the Christian Legal Society in their Center for Law and Religious Freedom, both in the area of religious freedom and in the area of sanctity of human life.  Her piece, "Stem Cells and the States:  Promulgating Constitutional Bans on Embryonic Experimentation," was published in the Valparaiso Law Review, where she served as an Associate Editor. She received her B.A. in history/political science from Greenville College in 2000.

 

Smith currently resides in western Illinois with her husband and son.