Jason Smith

B.A., University of Tennessee, summa cum laude

J.D., University of Tennessee, summa cum laude

Courses taught: Legal Communication I, II, & III

Selected Works

Jason R. Smith joined the LMU Law faculty in 2019.  Prior to joining the LMU Law faculty full-time, he served as an adjunct professor teaching Legal Communication III in the fall of 2017 and 2018. 

From September 2010 to July 2019, Professor Smith served as a law clerk for Judge D. Kelly Thomas, Jr., of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals.  During that time, Professor Smith assisted in drafting over 250 judicial opinions covering all aspects of Tennessee criminal law.  He also edited judicial opinions drafted by other law clerks and from other judges’ chambers. 

Before clerking with Judge Thomas, Professor Smith was a research attorney at Butler, Vines & Babb, PLLC in Knoxville, Tennessee.  In that role he provided research services for the firm members, focusing primarily on civil procedure, torts, and insurance law.  This included drafting research memoranda and various pleadings.

Professor Smith graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 2009 summa cum laude and Order of the Coif. In law school, he received certificates of academic excellence for Advanced Criminal Law, Civil Rights Actions, Legal Profession, and Legislation. He also received the Warren Wesley Kennerly Scholarship for Achievement in Legal Ethics.  During law school, Professor Smith was a law clerk for the University of Tennessee Office of the General Counsel and interned with the Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee, Inc.  Professor Smith also graduated summa cum laude from the University of Tennessee in 2004 with a B.A. majoring in English Literature and Political Science.

 Professor Smith is licensed in Tennessee.  He is also a member of the American Bar Association and the Tennessee Bar Association.