Peter J. Smith

Peter Smith is an expert in constitutional law. His articles have appeared in the Yale Law Journal, the Columbia Law Review, the Virginia Law Review, the Georgetown Law Journal, and the Duke Law Journal, among others. He is the author, with Professor Gregory Maggs, of law school and undergraduate casebooks on constitutional law, and the author of a casebook on Legislation and Regulation. Professor Smith teaches Constitutional Law and Civil Procedure. In 2022, 2016, and 2010, he received the Distinguished Faculty Service Award for outstanding teaching.

Before joining the faculty at GW Law, Professor Smith was an Attorney in the Civil Appellate Staff at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he represented the government in the U.S. Courts of Appeals. At DOJ, he defended the constitutionality of a number of federal statutes, including the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Food and Drug Modernization Act, in cases that ultimately were resolved by the Supreme Court.

Professor Smith received his BA from Yale and his JD from Harvard Law School, where he received the Sears Prize for highest academic performance. Professor Smith clerked for Judge Phyllis A. Kravitch of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

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