Fred Smith, Jr. is an Assistant Professor at Berkeley Law School. In the fall of 2017, he will become an Associate Professor at Emory University School of Law. He is a scholar of the federal judiciary and constitutional law.
Smith clerked for Judge Myron Thompson of the Middle District of Alabama; Judge Barrington D. Parker, Jr. of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; and Justice Sonia Sotomayor of the United States Supreme Court. Prior to teaching, he also worked as a fellow for a litigation boutique, Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore LLP in Atlanta.
Smith's research focuses on state sovereignty and representative government. His work has appeared, or will appear, in Harvard Law Review, Stanford Law Review, Columbia Law Review, New York University Law Review, Vanderbilt Law Review, and Fordham Law Review. Notable articles include: “Abstention in the Time of Ferguson,” 131 Harv. L. Rev. ___ (2018) (forthcoming); "Undemocratic Restraint," 69 Vand. L. Rev.___ (2017) (forthcoming); "Local Sovereign Immunity," 116 Colum. L. Rev. 409 (2016),"Due Process, Republicanism, and Direct Democracy," 89 New York University Law Review 582 (2014) and "Awakening the People's Giant: Sovereign Immunity and the Constitution's Republican Commitment," 80 Fordham Law Review 1941 (2012).
Smith earned his JD from Stanford Law School in 2007. At Stanford, he was a member of the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic; was a finalist in the annual Kirkwood Moot Court Competition; was a finalist in the American Constitution Society's national Moot Court Competition; served as President of the Black Law Students Association; and served as Articles Editor for the Stanford Law and Policy Review. In 2004, he received his BA with Honors from Harvard College; his thesis was awarded magna cum laude.
Education: JD, Stanford Law School; BA (with honors), Harvard College.
