Avatara Smith-Carrington (they/them) currently serves as Assistant Counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), the nation’s first and foremost civil rights legal organization. Avatara uses litigation, policy, and public education strategies to enforce the United States Constitution’s promise of equal protection for all, and to eliminate barriers that prevent Black people in America from realizing their basic civil and human rights. As part of this work, Avatara conceptualized and led LDF’s amicus brief on in United States v. Skrmetti and Black Emergency Response Team v. Drummond, and contributed to LDF’s amicus briefs in NYCPS v. U.S. Dept. of Education, Ames v. Ohio Dept. of Youth Services, and L.M. v. Town of Middleborough.
Prior to joining LDF, Avatara was a Staff Attorney at Lambda Legal. Their past casework includes serving as lead counsel in Anderson v. Crouch (f/k/a/ Fain v. Crouch); as well as counsel in The Diversity Center v. Trump, L.W. v. Skrmetti, Campos v. Cohen, and B.P.J. v. West Virginia Board of Education.
Avatara serves on the board of the National Homeless Law Center and the Kairos Fellowship.
Avatara received their B.A. from Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey and their J.D. from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. They are licensed to practice law in the state of Maryland, Texas, and the District of Columbia.
