Lacon Smith, a Houston High School graduate, obtained the degree of Juris Doctorate on May 12 from the University of Arkansas Little Rock, William H. Bowen School of Law.
Smith graduated in 2010 from HHS, where she still holds records for her accomplishments in Lincoln-Douglas Debate. After obtaining her bachelor of arts in English and global studies from Drury University, she accepted a scholarship offer to the University of Arkansas Little Rock, William H. Bowen School of Law.
Smith served as the Associate Notes and Comments Editor of the University of Arkansas Little Rock Law Review and Faculty Research Assistant to Professor J. Thomas Sullivan, the lead attorney in Jackson v. Hobbs, a companion case to the landmark Supreme Court case Miller v. Alabama, where the Court ruled that sentencing a juvenile to a mandatory life-without-parole sentence is unconstitutional.
While in Arkansas, she clerked full-time for the United States Attorney’s Office, the James Law Firm (exclusively criminal defense), and Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Alice Sprinkle Gray.
Smith accepted a position as an Associate Attorney at the Law Office of Adam Woody, Springfield, specializing exclusively in criminal defense. She also accepted a scholarship offer from Washington University in Saint Louis School of Law to pursue a specialized LL.M. in criminal law and appellate litigation, which she will begin this fall. Her areas of interest include: wrongful convictions, the use of DNA evidence in criminal cases, and search and seizure law.
She lives in Springfield with her daughter, Alba Grace, 4. She is the daughter of Stanley Wilbert Smith, of Success, and Milissa and Wesley Kovachik, of Licking.