Attorneys

Debra A. Smith was born and raised in Pottsville, currently residing in New Philadelphia. She graduated high school at Pottsville School District. She is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University with a bachelor’s degree in social science. Her specialty in college was law and justice. She received her law degree from Widener University in 1994, when she began practicing with the firm. She has done a variety of types of law in her career, including but not limited to federal black lung, social security disability, landlord/tenant, criminal, workers’ compensation, unemployment law and domestic law. She now specializes in all domestic and family law, including but not limited to divorce, custody, and support. In her capacity as a domestic lawyer, she has a 100% success rate of the cases brought on appeal to the superior court. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the Schuylkill Bar Association, the women’s law caucus and the schuylkill county domestic relations rules committee and the Schuylkill County Bar Association pro bono committee. She is also on the board of directors for mid penn legal services and she acts as the committee chair on the personnel and grievance committee. She is also serving her sixth year as a member of the board of directors of the YWCA. She is currently volunteering to conduct custody clinics for mid penn legal services. She is president of the board of directors and a big sister for big brothers/big sisters of schuylkill county. She has been affiliated with this organization since 1990. She is also a very active member of the Pottsville business and professional women’s club and is the recording secretary on the district level.

Year Joined Organization

• 1990

Areas of Practice

• Domestic and Family Law
• Divorce
• Custody
• Support

Litigation Percentage

• 100% of Practice Devoted to Litigation

Bar Admissions

• Pennsylvania, 1994
• U.S. District Court Middle District of Pennsylvania, 2001

Education

• Widener University School of Law, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1994
  
  
• Pennsylvania State University
  Major: Law & Justice
  Major: Social Science
  
  

Professional Associations and Memberships

• The Pennsylvania Bar Association
  Member
  
  
• The Schuylkill Bar Association
  Member
  
  
• The Women's Law Caucus
  Member
  
  
• The Schuylkill County
  Member, Domestic Relations Rules Committee
  
  
• Schuylkill County Bar Association
  Member, Pro Bono Committee
  
  
• Mid Penn Legal Services
  Board of Directors
  
  
• Mid Penn Legal Services
  Committee Chair, Personnel and Grievance Committee
  
  
• YWCA
  Member, Board of Directors
  
  
• A Big Sister For Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Schuylkill County
  President, Board of Directors
  
  
• Pottsville Business
  Member
  
  
• Professional Women's Club
  Member
  
  

Pro Bono Activities

• Conduct Custody Clinics, Mid Penn Legal Services

Birth Information

• 1968, Pottsville