Paris L. Smith

Paris L. Smith focuses her practice in the areas of litigation, employment and labor law.

Paris comes to Rathje Woodward LLC with many years of human resources and employment law experience. Over the course of her career, she served as a Regional Director of HR (U.S. and Canada), National Director of Human Resources, and as an HR Consultant for several organizations (including founding an HR Consulting practice for American Express Tax & Business Services). She has a wealth of experience handling harassment, EEOC, Illinois Department of Human Rights, and wage and hour claims, as well as  other employee investigations.

During law school Paris worked as an extern for the Chief Legal Counsel’s office in the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security (USCIS). In that role, she wrote and submitted several appellate briefs to the Board of Immigration Appeals on behalf of the United States.  She also worked as a 711 licensed Prosecutor during which time she successfully prosecuted seven trials. Additionally, she served in the UIC John Marshall pro-bono litigation clinic where she represented clients in several types of litigation.

Paris is passionate about abused and hurting children, and volunteers for Safe Families for Children  by providing a temporary home for children in need. She also participates in and supports church ministry.