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Meet
Rachel Smith
Rachel Smith serves as the Director of Trial Advocacy Training, senior consultant, and faculty for Vera Causa Group. Rachel is both a seasoned trial attorney and veteran instructor.
Rachel has extensive experience as a prosecutor and trial attorney. She’s prosecuted thousands of cases in her career, including homicide, sex crimes and capital cases. Smith served as a key member of the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office for over 20 years - trying criminal cases, managing trial teams and helping administer the office as an executive staff member. Smith also served in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office as a special prosecutor where she traveled the State of Missouri to handle capital, homicide and public corruption investigations and cases.
Rachel has trained hundreds of law enforcement officers and prosecutors throughout her career. From 2013 to 2021 Smith served as Adjunct Professor and Clinical Co-Director for Washington University School of Law Prosecution Clinic. She has taught at the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) trial school, the Missouri Police Chief’s Command College, Missouri Office of Prosecution Services, St Louis Metropolitan police Academy, the Missouri Bar Association and numerous police departments.
A recognized expert in prosecution and criminal justice, Smith was appointed by the Missouri Supreme Court to the Missouri Bar’s Criminal Code Re-write Committee and the Missouri Criminal Justice Task force on Public Defender workload. She has served on several additional statewide committees including Missouri Prosecutor’s Legislative and Capitol Litigation committees. Smith chaired the Missouri Best Practices Subcommittee on Special Victims from 2013 to 2015 and of the Best Practices Subcommittee on Ethics from 2015 to 2017.
Today, Rachel works as a special prosecutor throughout Missouri and in Idaho assisting elected prosecutors with complex litigation.
Rachel obtained her undergraduate Bachelor of Arts from Washington College. She graduated Washington University School of Law.