New attorney has soft spot for less fortunate

Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Holly Smith and Richmond County District Attorney Reece Saunders.

Swearing-in ‘last hoop to being a real attorney’

By Kevin Spradlin
PeeDeePost.com

ROCKINGHAM — Holly Smith might be Richmond County’s newest attorney, but she also could have been a fantastic chess player.

Everything for the 28-year-old, including two internships with the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office, was carefully calculated and executed in order to make Smith a better advocate for the less fortunate.

Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Holly Smith, left, with Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Tanya Wallace.

Look out prosecutors. Smith was sworn in Wednesday morning as a member of the North Carolina bar by Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Tanya Wallace — in front of a crowd of family, friends and professional well-wishers — and the Hamlet resident is eager to get to work. She hopes to be working through a fellowship with the Richmond County office of North Carolina Legal Aid Bureau.

Her work at the DA’s office in Rockingham on the prosecution side of the aisle, she said, was “so I could know how to do the defense side.”

Born near Philadelphia, Pa., and raised in Florida, Smith married Cordova native Trey Sikes and has been a Richmond County resident since 2007.

Smith graduated Magna Cum Laude from Wingate University, where she earned her bachelor’s of science in mathematics and finance in 2008. She also was an Irwin Belk Scholar.

In 2013, Smith earned her juris doctor from the University of North Carolina’s School of Law. Where there, Smith was a student advocate in the Juvenile Justice Clinic, defending juvenile clients in Durham County. She also worked with the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program for the low-income community.

Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com

While in law school, Smith completed two internships with the local DA’s office, including one under the supervision of Kennedy Gate and the other under Chevonne Wallace. Smith also interned with the Office of the State Attorney, the 19th Judicial Circuit of Florida under Nikki Robinson.