Icon of GlobeLL.M./J.S.D. Program in Intercultural Human Rights Learn More

Liza E. Smoker, Esq.

By May 30, 2023

Liza E. Smoker, Esq., is Managing Director of The John J. Brunetti Human Trafficking Academy.  She graduated from Florida State University with degrees in Multinational Business and Real Estate, where she returned to receive her law degree.  She was formally educated on human trafficking at St. Thomas University College of Law’s LL.M./J.S.D. Program in Intercultural Human Rights, and served as LL.M. Editor-in-Chief of the Intercultural Human Rights Law Review.

Prior to joining the Academy, Ms. Smoker spent ten years in the private practice of law where she became the first woman partner in her firm’s history since 1925. She served as president of the Broward County Bar Association Young Lawyers Section, which was recognized as Affiliate of the Year by the Florida Bar YLD largely due to her leadership.

Ms. Smoker also served in the public sector.  She worked in the Executive Office of the Governor of Florida, prosecuted crimes as a CLI in the Leon County State Attorney’s Office, and served as a White House Legal Intern in the Office of the Counsel to the President of the United States.

In 2017, Ms. Smoker spearheaded more than twenty events focused on the harmful effects of pornography and its link to commercial sexual exploitation as one of the prevalent forms of human trafficking.  She led a grassroots campaign in support of Florida House Resolution 157 on the issue that passed in 2018 with bipartisan support.

Ms. Smoker is a Women’s History Month Honoree of the Broward County Commission on the Status of Women, recipient of the Paul May Professionalism in Practice Award from the Broward County Bar Association, an AV Preeminent rated attorney for the highest level of legal ability and ethical standards, and a national semi-finalist and regional champion in trial advocacy competitions by the American Bar Association. She is also the recipient of several community awards such as the Voice of Freedom Award from A Voice in the Wilderness Empowerment Center, the Nehemiah Award from Live the Life, and the Illumination Award from Place of Hope.

In 2019, Ms. Smoker was one of 60 Scholars chosen nationwide as a Presidential Leadership Scholar (PLS). The PLS Program is a partnership among the Presidential Centers of George W. Bush, William J. Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Lyndon B. Johnson, and designed for mid-career leaders from diverse backgrounds who share a commitment to helping solve society’s greatest challenges.