Professional Career
After earning her M.A. degree, Smith was a planning analyst for Enviro-Med, Inc. in Washington, D.C., and La Jolla, California from 1973–74. She then was a research associate for the National Academy of Science, Institute of Medicine in Washington, D.C. from 1974 to 1977. After she graduated from law school, Smith entered the private practice of law in Norfolk, Virginia. She then served as a law clerk for the Honorable J. Calvitt Clarke, Jr., Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in 1979–1980. She was again in the private practice of law at a large firm in Norfolk from 1980 to 1985. Before being appointed a federal district judge, she was a United States magistrate judge for the Eastern District of Virginia from 1985 to 1989.
On August 4, 1989, President George H.W. Bush nominated Smith for appointment as a federal district judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to a seat vacated by Judge D. Dortch Warriner. The United States Senate confirmed Smith's appointment on October 24, 1989, and she received her commission on October 25, 1989. She was the first female federal judge in Virginia. On December 4, 2011, Smith became Chief Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia.
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