Johnathan Smith

Johnathan Smith is Chief of Staff & General Counsel at the National Center for Youth Law, where he supports senior management and helps guide the organization's litigation efforts to improve the lives of children and youth. 

Johnathan has nearly 20 years of deep legal experience, including a previous role as Deputy Assistant Attorney General and acting Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. He has also served in leadership roles with the New York State Division of Human Rights, MacArthur Justice Center, Muslim Advocates, and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, among others. Johnathan started his legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable Carl E. Stewart of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Johnathan has also previously served as a lecturer at the University of Michigan Law School. He is a graduate from Harvard College, the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and NYU School of Law.