Melissa "Kat" Smith

Assistant Clinical Professor of Law

Education/Professional Certification

JD, University of Minnesota
MS, Florida State University
BA, University of Montana

Biography

Kat Smith teaches U.S. common law analysis and writing for international LLM and exchange students. Before coming to UConn, she was chair and associate professor of law at American University of Phnom Penh in Cambodia. She has been teaching at the collegiate level for more than 15 years and spent six years teaching college students overseas in China and Cambodia. Prior to moving overseas, Professor Smith worked for more than a decade in research and public policy. She worked as a criminologist and researcher in Florida focused on juvenile justice system evaluations and as a policy analyst in Utah and Michigan, working on local, state and federal policy issues – including housing and homelessness, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, food support, Unemployment Compensation, and other government aid programs. She has served on the AmCham Legal Committee in Cambodia, the Michigan Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Michigan Coalition for Children and Families, the Utah State Workforce Investment Board, and Utah’s Family Investment Coalition.

Professor Smith served as a judicial law clerk for both the Minnesota State Courts and the Minnesota Court of Appeals and was an AmeriCorps attorney. She received a BA in History from the University of Montana, a JD from the University of Minnesota and an MS in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Florida State University. She also received a Certificate of Accomplishment in Teaching English as a Second Language from the University of Montana.