Kyra Nicole Smith, Esquire

​About Kyra Nicole Smith:

   I have been practicing education law since 2008, and represent students with special educational needs located throughout Southern New Jersey, including Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Salem , Cumberland, Atlantic and Cape May Counties.  I am licensed to practice law in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and California, and am a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association, New Jersey Special Education Practitioners, and Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates..  My family resides in South Jersey and I am the mother of two children, one of whom has multiple special needs.  I am passionate about disability rights and special education issues and began working in the field of disability law in 1995, prior to attending law school.

   Originally from California, I received my undergraduate degree in Communication Studies, Magna Cum Laude with Honors, from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1996.  I received my law degree from the University of California, Davis in 2001.  Prior to entering law school, I served as Special Assistant to San Francisco Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr., working closely with the San Francisco City Attorney's Office and the Mayor's Disability Coordinator to develop a citywide, comprehensive "ADA Transition Plan" to bring city-owned buildings into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

   While attending  law school, I worked at Legal Services of Northern California's Disability and Employment Rights Advocates office, providing legal representation to disabled clients of the California Department of Rehabilitation.  During this period, I also served as a Legal Research Teacher’s Assistant, co-authored two manuals for Legal Services of Northern California in the areas of housing rights and California's welfare-to-work program, served as an advocate for inmates of the California Department of Corrections and received the Public Interest Law Scholar Certificate for demonstrated commitment to public interest legal work.

   Following law school, I served as both Case Manager and Agency Coordinator for the Volunteer Center of Sacramento's Alternative Sentencing Program (ASP), the nonprofit agency responsible for monitoring criminal offenders sentenced to perform community service in Sacramento County, California.  During my four years with ASP, I managed a caseload of over 500 juvenile and adult offenders court-ordered to perform community service, and was also responsible for training and monitoring more than 180 nonprofit agencies providing community service opportunities for offenders.

   After relocating to New Jersey in 2006, I worked briefly as an associate for a boutique Moorestown law firm specializing in environmental, land use, and education litigation, before returning to my non-profit roots in 2007.  From 2007-2013, I served as Case Supervisor and Court Liaison for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Camden County,  a leading non-profit child advocacy organization advocating for the best interests of abused and neglected children involved in the foster care system.  While at CASA, I was responsible for training and supervising volunteer CASA advocates, attending family court hearings and IEP meetings, and liaising with family court judges, attorneys, the Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCP&P), educational providers and other state and community-based agencies to help improve outcomes for New Jersey's abused and neglected children.  In 2008, while still employed at CASA, I started my education law practice, providing representation to students with disabilities and special needs.