Joyce E Smithey

Joyce Smithey is the Managing Partner of Smithey Law Group LLC. In 2025, Ms. Smithey was once again selected for inclusion as a Maryland Super Lawyer in the area of Labor and Employment Law. Ms. Smithey has also been named among Maryland’s Top 50 Women Attorneys and Top 100 Attorneys multiple times, as published in Baltimore Magazine. She was also an honoree of Baltimore’s SmartCEO’s 2016 Centers of Influence award, and is a multi-time recipient of The Daily Record’s Leadership in Law Award and The Daily Record’s Top 100 Women in Maryland. She is also Band 1 top ranked in Chambers USA, and Law Dragon has recognized her as one of the 500 Leading Plaintiff Employment & Civil Rights Lawyers in the nation. Bethesda Magazine has also recognized Ms. Smithey as a Top Attorney in 2021.

Ms. Smithey has appeared on and been featured in The New York Times, NBC, healthline, U.S. News & World Report, The Daily Record, The Washington Post, , MSN, Baltimore Business Journal, The Baltimore Sun, Maryland Public Television, The Democrat Star, Law 360, Eye on Annapolis, Law & Crime Network, , Virginia This Morning, Newsmax, Staples Worklife Magazine, America Tonight, NPR, Washington Business Journal, the Capital Gazette, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Ms. Smithey regularly advises employees on all matters relating to employment law, including:
• Discrimination, including race, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, family responsibilities, and religion
• Sexual harassment
• Retaliation and reprisal
• The Equal Pay Act
• Representation of public sector employees
• Disability accommodation and discrimination
• Medical leave
• Wrongful discharge
• Workplace privacy
• Defamation
• Employment contracts and restrictive covenants
• ERISA discrimination
• Employee and applicant testing
• Wage and hour issues
• WARN

Ms. Smithey has represented clients in state and federal courts, arbitrations, and before the Department of Labor, state and county commissions on human relations, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She has handled numerous jury trials, appellate oral arguments before the First and Fourth Circuits, bench trials, administrative hearings, and motion hearings. Ms. Smithey is also a trained mediator on workplace issues.

Ms. Smithey has taught seminars and law school courses on employment law topics. She has also published extensively on employment law and civil litigation. She authored the Fourth Edition of Maryland Rules Commentary and is a contributing author to the MSBA Maryland Employment law Deskbook.

Ms. Smithey is a member of the Section Council of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the Maryland State Bar Association, and a member of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the District of Columbia Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. She also served on the Maryland State Bar Association’s Board of Governors and is a member of the Women’s Bar Association of Maryland, the National Employment Lawyers Association, the Maryland Employment Lawyers Association, and the Maryland Association for Justice, in addition to being a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Ms. Smithey also does extensive pro bono work in the area of employment law, including serving on the Employment Law Hotline for the Women’s Law Center and teaching in the Workplace Street Law Program. She has also authored amicus briefs for the National Employment Lawyers Association.

Ms. Smithey received her Juris Doctor from Boston University School of Law where she researched and authored “Housing Discrimination Against People with Mental Disabilities: How does the Fair Housing Amendment Act of 1988 Help Implement the Goals of Deinstitutionalization?” Ms. Smithey received her Bachelor of Arts from Pepperdine University. She is admitted to practice in Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Hampshire, and the U.S. Supreme Court.