Morgan Lewis–Chief Engagement Officer
New York, NY
Amanda Smith serves as the chief engagement officer at Morgan Lewis. In this global position, she works to ensure that the workplace experience of every employee is consistent with the firm’s unique culture. In addition to designing and implementing the firm’s engagement programming, Amanda supports all firm personnel through the development of wellbeing initiatives. Amanda also oversees the Morgan Lewis Corporate Social Responsibility Program, which includes developing skills-based volunteer opportunities for Morgan Lewis personnel globally and executing its sustainability program worldwide.
Amanda joined Morgan Lewis in 2003 with a practice focused on appellate litigation. In 2004, she was selected to serve as Morgan Lewis’s first pro bono counsel, and in 2008, she was named pro bono partner. Complementing her advanced degree in international human rights law, Amanda’s pro bono practice historically focused on human rights litigation under the Alien Tort Statute. As part of a larger team, she obtained a $140-million judgment on behalf of four Bosnian Muslims who had been detained and tortured in the former Yugoslavia and a $37-million judgment on behalf of two Peruvian women who had seen their mothers and siblings killed by the Peruvian military.
In 2015, Amanda was named the firm’s associate talent & pro bono partner and led a firmwide effort to innovate and improve all aspects of its global associate talent management, including associate performance management, compensation, recruiting, retention, training, and development. In her current role, Amanda continues to work directly with, and provide strategic guidance to, the firm’s pro bono and associate talent teams. As a partner in the firm, Amanda also serves on the board of directors of the Morgan Lewis Foundation, the National Center for Access to Justice, and the National Veterans Legal Services Program. She serves on the Emeritus Council of the Association of Pro Bono Counsel, an organization she cofounded in 2006. She is a frequent panelist at the Pro Bono Institute and Equal Justice conferences and is an adjunct professor at Cardozo Law School, where she teaches a course on the private bar response to the access to justice.