JACKI SMITH

Jacki Smith is a partner at Lambert Zainey Smith & Soso practicing in the areas of maritime litigation / Jones Act cases, maintenance and cure issues, vessel collisions and allisions, wrongful death, general personal injury, and LHWCA matters. Jacki hails from Patterson, Louisiana in St. Mary Parish, where her interest in the marine/offshore industry developed at an early age, due to her family’s connection to the industry. Her late grandfather was employed to supervise the first big-inch pipeline installed offshore, which began a long string of “firsts” that he developed and pioneered during his 40 years in the diving business, including being the first civilian diver certified by the Navy to “wet-weld,” pioneering the use of “lock out” submarines and later, the first ROVs in the Gulf of Mexico, and managing the first underwater radiography equipment and pipeline repair procedures. Today, Jacki advocates for commercial divers and other seamen in maritime personal injury litigation.

Jacki joined The Lambert Firm (now Lambert Zainey Smith & Soso) in 2013 after receiving her Juris Doctorate from Loyola University New Orleans School of Law. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Business with a concentration in Management and Finance from Louisiana State University in 2008.

She is admitted to practice in all Louisiana State Courts, United States District Courts for the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of Louisiana, The United States Court of Federal Claims, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Jacki is a member of the New Orleans Bar Association, Louisiana State Bar Association, Louisiana Association for Justice, American Association for Justice, the Association for Women Attorneys, and Public Justice. Jacki has been recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star (2019).

In addition to her law practice, Jacki is also enthusiastic and passionate about children/early childhood development and serves on the Board of Directors of the McMains Children’s Developmental Center, a facility that provides therapeutic services for children with disabilities and/or delays.