By Tom Kirvan
Legal News
In some legal circles, she is fondly known as “a small-town gal” who has made the “big time” in the federal judiciary.
Hers is a story of career accomplishments, of opportunities offered and risks taken, of promises made and promises kept on a cross-country path to one of the top executive posts with the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.
For Elizabeth “Libby” Smith, her new job as the head of the Department of Program Services figures to be the capstone of a distinguished career that began innocently enough nearly 30 years ago when she was working as a substitute secretary for the Oakland County Circuit Court operation.
It was there that she was pressed into duty in 1994 for then Circuit Court Administrator Judy Cunningham, who would go on to become Corporation Counsel for Oakland County.
“Libby was ‘subbing’ for my secretary, who had called in sick that day . . . and I had an article due for LACHES (the monthly magazine published by the Oakland County Bar Association) by noon,” Cunningham recalled. “I had a draft of my article ready to be typed but it needed footnotes that I was going to take care of on my own – thinking that a substitute secretary wouldn’t know how to do footnotes properly. Libby took my draft, fixed it all up in final form, including the footnotes, which she inserted perfectly – in MLA style sheet format. I was absolutely amazed and delighted with her and her ability.”
So much so that Cunningham decided to take the substitute secretary under her wing in what proved to be a life-altering time for Smith.
“Right then, from that first day I met her, I told her she needed to complete her degree,” Cunningham said. “I recognized that she was so special, hired her on my staff, and hoped that I played a small part in encouraging Libby to continue her education.”
Smith, not surprisingly, followed that sage piece of advice, majoring in computer information systems at Walsh College, where she graduated magna cum laude in 1999. Six years later she would one-up herself, obtaining her master’s degree from Walsh in business information technology, this time as a summa cum laude graduate.
She began her career with Oakland County as judicial administrative assistant to Circuit Judge Steven Andrews in 1994, rising through the ranks to become Civil/Criminal Division Administrator in 1999. Smith said she was more than content there until “opportunity came knocking” at the federal court in Detroit, where she was chosen to become Deputy Court Administrator/Chief Deputy Clerk for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Smith would spend four years in that job, showcasing her leadership, management, and long-range planning skills for the three court units – district, probation, and pretrial services. Her smarts and experience in the technology field caught the eye of her superiors, who appointed Smith to serve as a representative on the Judiciary’s Information Technology Advisory Council and to participate in the Federal Court Leadership Program.
Those roles and opportunities would pay dividends in 2009 when Smith was appointed Clerk of the U.S. District Court and the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Idaho, a consolidated post where she would spend the next eight years of her career with the federal judiciary.
Her exemplary work was recognized nationally in 2016 when Smith was named a recipient of the Director’s Award for Outstanding Leadership, the highest honor bestowed upon judicial branch employees.
In announcing the award, the Administrative Office of the United States Courts credited Smith with “innovative changes that improved court efficiency and cut costs.” She also was recognized for her office’s support of 20 visiting judges, who helped the District of Idaho cope with a shortage of judges. In addition, Smith was cited for her contributions at the national level as the chair of the District Clerks Advisory Group.
“This is a very significant honor and recognizes the outstanding contributions which Libby has made to the federal court system” then Chief Judge B. Lynn Winmill said at the time. “To my knowledge, it is the first time it has been given to someone from Idaho.”
It would be just a matter of months before Smith would climb another rung in the court ladder, earning a spring 2017 appointment as the new Circuit Executive of the United States Courts for the Ninth Circuit based in San Francisco. Her appointment was a bittersweet moment for Winmill, now a senior judge on the U.S. District Court of Idaho.
“Libby has done an amazing job for us and done so under very trying circumstances,” Winmill said, noting lean budget years along with the challenges posed by the state’s geography and the district’s lack of judicial officers. “We are a stronger district due to Libby’s efforts.”
The opportunity to work as the COO of the nation’s largest U.S. Circuit Court operation, while daunting, was too good of a post to pass up, even if it meant relocating to an area known for its sky-high housing prices, according to Smith.
“My plan was to retire in Idaho, but the chance to work in such an important position with the Ninth Circuit just fed my professional soul,” said Smith, who indicated that “I have absolutely loved every court job I’ve had” over the years.
Among the pluses at the Ninth Circuit was her daily commute, which on a regular basis involved taking the ferry across beautiful San Francisco Bay where invariably she would be treated to the sight of whales breaching.
“It really was breathtaking and was a great way to start the day,” said Smith, who grew up in Davisburg, a small community in northern Oakland County.
And yet, after a fulfilling four years with the Ninth Circuit, Smith was encouraged to apply for an opening as Associate Director of the Department of Program Services in Washington, D.C., a vacancy created by the retirement of Mary Louise Mitterhoff last spring.
“I truly felt ‘called’ to apply, that ‘I need to do this,’” Smith said of her decision to seek the leadership position.
Her appointment was made official last August in an announcement made by Judge Roslynn Mauskopf, director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.
“Libby is well known and respected throughout the Judiciary for her service in a variety of leadership roles and for her work on various advisory and working groups at the AO,” said Mauskopf in her announcement. “Her career spans over 28 years, during which she gained a wealth of executive leadership, operational, and administrative management experience in both the federal and state courts.”
In one of her first acts, Smith conducted a virtual staff meeting last fall for the more than 350 employees in her department, doing “my best to connect with them, to inspire them, and to make sure that they hold me accountable as the head of the Department of Program Services.”
That talk was of the heart-felt variety, according to Smith, who just months before had lost her beloved father after being at his bedside for the last six weeks of his life.
“Last year was a particularly tough year, especially losing someone as important in my life as my dad,” said Smith, the mother of two children, William, a flight engineer in the U.S. Air Force, and Erica, a physician assistant at Beaumont Health. “But now, with the challenge of a new job in a new city, I feel rejuvenated and ready to be the best I can be.”
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