Hannah Clayson Smith

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Hannah Smith

| image = Hannah Smith 2017 (cropped).jpg

| caption = Smith in 2017

| birth_date =

| birth_place =

| alma_mater = Princeton University (AB)
Brigham Young University (JD)

| residence =

| profession = Lawyer

| spouse = John Smith

| children = 4

| website =

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}}

Hannah Clayson Smith is an American attorney with the firm Schaerr Jaffe.{{cite web|url=https://www.schaerr-jaffe.com/hannah-smith|title=Hannah Smith|publisher=|access-date=2020-08-03|archive-date=2020-10-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001010816/https://www.schaerr-jaffe.com/hannah-smith|url-status=live}} Smith is a senior fellow at the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University (BYU) and a member of the Board of Directors of the Religious Freedom Institute.{{cite web | url=https://www.religiousfreedominstitute.org/our-board-of-directors | title=Our Board of Directors | date=16 February 2023 | access-date=1 March 2019 | archive-date=1 March 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301201838/https://www.religiousfreedominstitute.org/our-board-of-directors | url-status=live }}

Biography

Smith was raised in California and is the sister of Jane Clayson Johnson. She earned a bachelor's degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University before attending BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School. During law school, Smith was elected to the Order of the Coif and served as Executive Editor of the BYU Law Review.{{cite web|url=http://www.becketlaw.org/staff/hannah-smith/|title=Hannah Smith - Becket|publisher=|access-date=20 November 2017|archive-date=27 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027025119/http://www.becketlaw.org/staff/hannah-smith/|url-status=dead}} Smith also served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Switzerland Geneva Mission, which covered parts of Switzerland and France.{{cite news|first=Sara|last=Israelsen-Hartley|title=Hannah Clayson Smith: Two-time Supreme Court clerk balances legal endeavors with motherhood|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700094917/Hannah-Clayson-Smith-Two-time-Supreme-Court-clerk-balances-legal-endeavors-with-motherhood.html?pg=all|access-date=30 July 2015|newspaper=Deseret News|date=25 December 2010|archive-date=12 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150712040631/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700094917/Hannah-Clayson-Smith-Two-time-Supreme-Court-clerk-balances-legal-endeavors-with-motherhood.html?pg=all|url-status=dead}}{{better source|date=February 2023}}

Following law school, Smith clerked for then-Judge Samuel Alito of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. She next clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas of the United States Supreme Court from 2003 to 2004, and then returned in 2006 to clerk at the Supreme Court a second time for Justice Alito following his appointment as an associate justice.{{cite web|url=https://www.deseretnews.com/article/700094917/Hannah-Clayson-Smith-Two-time-Supreme-Court-clerk-balances-legal-endeavors-with-motherhood.html|title=Hannah Clayson Smith: Two-time Supreme Court clerk balances legal endeavors with motherhood|first=Sara|last=Israelsen-Hartley|website=Deseret News|date=25 December 2010|publisher=|access-date=20 November 2017|archive-date=27 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027025739/https://www.deseretnews.com/article/700094917/Hannah-Clayson-Smith-Two-time-Supreme-Court-clerk-balances-legal-endeavors-with-motherhood.html|url-status=dead}} She practiced law{{when|date=February 2023}} at Williams & Connolly and Sidley Austin in Washington D.C.

Smith's legal practice focuses on appellate litigation. She was part of the legal team for landmark U.S. Supreme Court victories such as Zubik v. Burwell, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, Holt v. Hobbs, and Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC.{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13a1284_ap6c.pdf|title=Wheaton College v. Burwell|access-date=October 8, 2018|archive-date=June 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170625143448/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13a1284_ap6c.pdf|url-status=live}}

In 2017, Smith testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of Neil Gorsuch's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. Her testimony reviewed his jurisprudence relating to religious liberty cases, including two of Becket's clients: the Little Sisters of the Poor and Hobby Lobby.{{cite web|url=https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/download/03-23-17-smith-testimony|title=United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|website=www.judiciary.senate.gov|access-date=20 November 2017|archive-date=27 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027030056/https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/download/03-23-17-smith-testimony|url-status=live}}

Honors and awards

In 2014, Smith was awarded the BYU Alumni Achievement Award.{{cite web|url=https://magazine.byu.edu/article/alumni-achievers/|title=Alumni Achievers - BYU Magazine|publisher=|access-date=20 November 2017|archive-date=14 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114223157/https://magazine.byu.edu/article/alumni-achievers/|url-status=live}} In 2016, Smith was awarded the J. Reuben Clark Law Society's Women-in-Law Leadership Award.{{cite web|url=http://www.jrcls.org/news/story.php?id=347|title=Newsletter Story|website=www.jrcls.org|access-date=20 November 2017|archive-date=27 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027025922/http://www.jrcls.org/news/story.php?id=347|url-status=live}} In 2018, she was awarded the James Madison Award from the Center for Constitutional Studies.

Smith served on the Brigham Young University Law School's Board of Advisers as well as on the Deseret News editorial advisory board. Smith was on the inaugural panel of Stanford Law School's religious freedom clinic.{{cite news |first=Judith |last=Romea |url=http://stanfordreview.org/article/a-future-for-religious-liberty-at-stanford/ |title=A Future for Religious Liberty at Stanford |newspaper=Stanford Review |date=February 19, 2013 |access-date=July 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170105215036/http://stanfordreview.org/article/a-future-for-religious-liberty-at-stanford/ |archive-date=January 5, 2017 |url-status=dead }}

Personal life

Smith is married to John Smith, an attorney who also clerked for Alito, and they have four children.

References

Selected publications

Smith, Hannah & Daniel Benson (2017). [https://fedsoc-cms-public.s3.amazonaws.com/update/pdf/060Dy9JKIHAd8N5RIEpjPuCUio4N28c5Ykx0K7uK.pdf When a Pastor's House Is a Church Home: Why the Parsonage Allowance Is Desirable Under the Establishment Clause], The Federalist Society Review.