Dawn Smith is a British Virgin Islander lawyer who serves as the

Attorney General of the British Virgin Islands The Attorney General of the British Virgin Islands is the principal legal adviser to the Government of the British Virgin Islands. Under the Constitution of the British Virgin Islands the Attorney General sits ''ex officio'' in both the House of ...

since 2020.

Early life and education

Smith was born at

Peebles Hospital Peebles Hospital is the main public hospital in the British Virgin Islands. The hospital is located in the capital, Road Town, on the island of Tortola. It was founded in 1922 by Major H.W. Peebles, and was originally known as the Cottage Hospi ...

Road Town Road Town, located on Tortola, is the capital and largest town of the British Virgin Islands. It is situated on the horseshoe-shaped Road Harbour in the centre of the island's south coast. The population was about 15,000 in 2018. The name is d ...

Tortola Tortola () is the largest and most populated island of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It has a surface area of with a total population of 23,908, with 9,400 residents in ...

, British Virgin Islands. She holds a

Legal Education Certificate In the Commonwealth Caribbean, a Legal Education Certificate is a professional certification awarded to a person who has completed a course of study and training at a law school established by the Council of Legal Education. It was created by Art ...

from

Norman Manley Law School The Norman Manley Law School is a law school in Jamaica. Building and location The Norman Manley Law School is located on the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies, yet it is a distinct and separate institution. Its building, design ...

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

, a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

, Upper Second Class Honours from the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking countries and territories in t ...

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

; and

Bachelor of Liberal Arts A Bachelor of Liberal Arts (BLA or ALB) is a type of undergraduate bachelor's degree. Harvard University confer the degree of "Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Extension Studies" on those who completed Harvard Extension School undergraduate degree prog ...

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

with Highest Honours in Sociology-Anthropology from

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...

Middlebury, Vermont Middlebury is the shire town (county seat) of Addison County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,152. Middlebury is home to Middlebury College and the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History and the adjacent ...

, USA.

Career

Smith worked as an attorney at O'Neal Webster O'Neal Myers Fletcher & Gordon from 1997 to 2001. From 2002 to 2006 and again from 2009 to 2012, she was an attorney at Conyers Dill & Pearman, from 2006 to 2009 she served as director of the London office. From 2013 to 2020, she was general counsel at the Financial Services Commission. From 2017 to 2019, she served as acting permanent secretary of the premier's office, where she supervised and coordinated the work of departments under the premier's portfolio; preparing and managing the ministry's annual budget; developing and implementing strategic plans and serving as an ex-officio member on statutory boards and organisations such as the BVI Tourist Board and BVI Finance.

Attorney General

In May 2020, Smith was selected as attorney general, with the premier naming a Virgin Islander. On 18 September 2020, Smith was appointed by

Augustus Jaspert Augustus James Ulysses "Gus" Jaspert (born 1979) is a British diplomat who was previously the Governor of the British Virgin Islands. He was sworn into office on 22 August 2017. He left office on 23 January 2021, and was succeeded by John Ra ...

, effective 1 October 2020. She was sworn in on 1 October 2020. She is the seventh woman to be appointed as attorney general.

References

External links

Official Biography
Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century lawyers 20th-century women lawyers 21st-century lawyers British Virgin Islands lawyers Attorneys general of the British Virgin Islands Middlebury College alumni People from Road Town University of the West Indies alumni Female justice ministers {{Caribbean-law-bio-stub