Jessica Smith leads Holland & Hart’s nationwide Religious Institutions and First Amendment practice group and is a member of its Business Litigation Group.
As a member of the Business Litigation Group, Jessica represents businesses in state and federal court, mediation, and formal arbitration proceedings. She has experience handling bet-the-company litigation for clients, and her practice focuses on complex commercial disputes in the areas of breach of contract, fraud, intellectual property, labor and employment, real estate, and other business-related issues.
Jessica handles a wide variety of matters in the Religious Institutions and First Amendment Group, including defamation, reporter’s privilege, Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses of the Federal Constitution, their state analogues, tax exemptions, and other key legal doctrines specific to the First Amendment. Jessica also counsels and represents clients on other state and federal constitutional subjects, including takings, cruel and unusual punishment, due process, equal protection, and governmental immunity.
Prior to joining Holland & Hart, Jessica clerked for the Honorable Gregory Phillips on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and for the Honorable Gregory Hobbs on the Colorado Supreme Court.