Colleen Smith elevated to partner

Stris & Maher LLP is pleased to announce the promotion of Colleen Smith to the firm’s partnership, effective January 1, 2025.

Colleen is widely recognized as one of the leading young attorneys in the nation (Young Lawyer of the Year (finalist), The American Lawyer (2023); Top 40 Young Lawyers, ABA (2023); Lawyers on the Fast Track (winner), The Recorder (2023); Ones to Watch, Best Lawyers (2022 – present)). She joined Stris & Maher in 2022.

Trial Practice. Colleen maintains an active trial court practice focused on litigation strategy and critical motions. She is currently serving as lead plaintiffs’ counsel in a mass tort brought by thousands of residents harmed by noxious gases and other toxic substances emanating from a California landfill.

Appellate Practice. Colleen regularly serves as a lead brief writer in the firm’s landmark appeals. Her work has helped the firm secure major victories in consequential appeals in multiple circuits and before the U.S. Supreme Court. Most recently, Colleen successfully briefed and argued a Second Circuit appeal that revived retirees’ ERISA claims against IBM over its use of a long-outdated mortality table to calculate join and survivor annuities.

Pro Bono Practice. Colleen maintains an active pro bono practice with a focus on high-impact civil rights litigation in her home state of Idaho. She serves on the ACLU of Idaho Legal Panel and has successfully litigated cases in Idaho impacting reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and First Amendment rights. 

Colleen began her career with three back-to-back federal clerkships with Judge Liam O’Grady of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Judge N. Randy Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and Chief Judge David Nye of the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho. She received her J.D. from William & Mary Law School and B.S. from The College of Idaho.