Judge Lavinski Smith to Lead Seminar on Martin Luther King Jr.

The Honorable Lavinski R. Smith, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, will lead a seminar on the life, work and importance of Martin Luther King Jr. as part of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration 2010. The seminar is sponsored by the University of Arkansas chapter of Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences, the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, and the University of Arkansas MLK Planning Committee.

The seminar, "Living the Legacy, Celebrating the Dream — Through Service," will be at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 20, in the Larry Coombes Auditorium, Room 009, Plant Science Building.

Smith was appointed in 2002 to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit based in St. Louis. It is one of 13 U.S. courts of appeal and has jurisdiction over 10 district courts from Arkansas to North Dakota.

A native of Hope, Smith received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Arkansas in 1981 and his Juris Doctor from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1987.

After law school, Smith worked as a staff attorney for Ozark Legal Services in Fayetteville and later established the Smith Law Office in Springdale, practicing primarily civil law in both state and federal courts. In 1994, he became a full-time assistant professor at John Brown University in Siloam Springs.

Smith entered public service on the inaugural staff of Gov. Mike Huckabee, serving as regulatory liaison at the Governor's Office in 1996. He also served a total of four years on the Arkansas Public Service Commission, first as chairman and later as a commissioner. He served for two years as a justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court completing the term of Justice David Newbern.

Smith is a member of the Arkansas Bar Association, the W. Harold Flowers Law Society, the William R. Overton chapter of the American Inns of Court and the American Judicature Society.