In Conversation with Allie Smith, Fellow at the Center for Youth Policy and Law
A look into the work of Allie Smith ‘25, a fellow at the Center for Youth Policy & Law
Clinical Staff: To start us off, can you tell us how you ended up working as a policy fellow with the Center for Youth Policy & Law?
Allie Smith: I came to Maine Law knowing that I wanted to do juvenile law, specifically juvenile defense. I am also interested in civil support for young people. Before I started law school, my work focused on supporting young people experiencing homelessness and housing instability, including people coming out of experiences of incarceration. I had the opportunity to start working with the Center during the second semester of my first year in Law School. I continued on at the Center through the summer and into this fall.
CS: Part of your experience at the Center has been working alongside student attorneys representing youth clients. What has that been like?
AS: For me, the work that is being done by student attorneys and policy fellows contextualizes the purpose and the reason why I am here at Maine Law. It motivates me to keep going.
I had the chance to hear from all of the student attorneys about the cases they were working on and to participate in developing litigation strategies for all of those different cases, which grounded me in the real work and allowed me to start practicing the kind of work I want to do long-term. Seeing that array of reasons why people, especially young people, come into contact with the justice system, was so interesting to me because I understood, anecdotally, from my previous work before I came to law school, that the infractions that bring young people to the attention of the justice system in the first place can be extremely minimal.
One of the cases I was able to work on brought up many of the challenges and issues with the juvenile system in Maine, and inspired me to pursue an article that I will be writing for the Maine Law Review about establishing a minimum age of jurisdiction for the juvenile courts in Maine.
CS: How do you think your work at the Center will influence the next steps you take in your career?
AS: Although I came to law school feeling sure that juvenile law was what I wanted to do, you can never be sure until you are doing it. Being able to do the work so early in my law school career allowed me to confirm to myself that that is absolutely what I want to do. I am so grateful for the opportunity to try it and know that, yes, this is the professional calling of my life.