Law practice. Juggling act

• Author: Richard Acello
• Pages: 22-23

ABA JOURNAL | WINTER 2019-2020

22 LAW PRACTICE

Juggling Act

Tennessee attorney Greg Smith balances his law firm’s demands

with duties as a judge in local, federal and Native American courts

BY RICHARD ACELLO

Photo illustration by Sara Wadford/Shutterstock

Business of Law | LAW PRACTICE

To borrow an analogy from

Chief Justice John G. Roberts

Jr., if lawyers are baseball

players and judges are um-

pires, then Greg Smith not only calls

balls and strikes, he also throws them

and tries to hit them.

Smith is a family lawyer in Tennes-

see. When he’s not practicing law, he’s

interpreting it—serving as a judge at

three different levels of government.

He serves as a municipal court judge

in Pleasant View, Tennessee, which is

about 25 miles northwest of Nashville.

He is also active in Native American

justice, serving as a judge on multiple

tribal courts, and he’s been chief judge

of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s

Court of Indian Appeals since 2018.

In fact, he was a judge before he

was even a lawyer. “During law school,

I was a magistrate in Birmingham,

Alabama,” Smith recalls. “I did a night

court just like Harry Anderson [on the

NBC show Night Court]. I was able to

be appointed a municipal magistrate

before I got my degree” from Samford

University’s Cumberland School of

Law in 1988.

“The midnight magistrate job

primarily did initial appearances and

signed warrants,” he recalls. “It would

be similar to a justice of the peace posi-

tion like Nevada still has.

“The position was appointed by

the chief judge of the Birmingham city

court on the recommendation of a dean

from my law school. There were several

students who held this job while I was

in school.”

He opened up his solo practice in

Clarksville in 1993. Four years later, he

was appointed a municipal court judge

in Pleasant View.

“I got one of the best pieces of

judging advice from former Judge John

Godbold of the U.S. Court of Appeals

for the 11th Circuit:

“ ‘Hardly anyone knows who you

are, but they’ll decide from what they

see of you as a judge because everyone

in a small town will know the local

trafc judge.’ ”

Asked about ethical issues that might

arise in working as a lawyer and a

judge, Smith says, “It’s not all that hard.

Pleasant View is a trafc court primarily

and [is located in] the next county over.

You just recuse yourself if a potential

conict comes up.”

As a lawyer, Smith is a knowledge-

able advocate for his clients, according

to Ray Runyon, partner at Runyon &

Runyon in Clarksville.

As a judge, he nds Smith “respect-

ful to both the bench and opposing

counsel.”

“He is a throwback to a different era

inasmuch as he moves at a slower, more