John Ernest Smith

John E. Smith is a native of Houston. He was raised on the near east side of Houston in below middle class circumstances. He is familiar with the pressures of financial problems and their toll on the individual and family. He attended HISD schools and graduated from Furr High School (Houston). He was able to attend Baylor University and Baylor Law School through academic scholarships and financial aid. John attempts to practice law with the compassion for financial hardships he learned in these early years. 

Academic Credentials 
John E. Smith received a B.A. cum laude from Baylor University . He later received a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Baylor University School of Law. He is licensed in the State of Texas , the Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas, and the Fifth Circuit Court Of Appeals. He has been certified as a specialist in Consumer Bankruptcy Law by Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1989 

Honors 
John is a member and Past President (3 terms) of the Houston Association of Debtor Attorneys. He is a member of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. He is also a Master and previous co-chair of the Membership Committee of the Moeller/Foltz Inns of Court, an educational and social organization for top attorneys in the field of bankruptcy law. 

He has served on the following committees in the Southern District of Texas: Local Rules, Chapter 13 Procedures, Home Mortgage Pass-Through procedures, the Consumer Bankruptcy Advisory Committee, and currently, the Local Rules Committee. 

In 2002, he coached a University of Houston team to a second place finish in the Conrad Duberstein Moot Court competition in New York. John has been a speaker at the following seminars: 2002 South Texas College of Law Bankruptcy Seminar, 2003 State Bar of Texas Advanced Consumer Bankruptcy, 2005 University of Texas Consumer Bankruptcy Seminar, and 2007 HBA Bankruptcy Seminar on the topic of Chapter 12, the 2009 National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys; as well as various local Bar associations in 2011,2012,2013, and 2014. 

He published the paper “Looking for Expenses in All the Wrong Places- A Debtor Attorney’s perspective on 707b” for the 2003 Advanced Consumer Bankruptcy Seminar.