As a death penalty staff attorney for the United States District Courts for the Northern District of Texas for more than 17 years, D. Robert Smith analyzed federal court filings including last-minute motions to stay executions in connection with the drafting of court opinions in death penalty cases. During this time, he taught extensively in accredited CLE programs, coordinated resources for staff attorneys and judges across the nation, and assisted judges and staff attorneys in some of their most challenging cases. He also served as the chair of the Court Attorney Advisory Committee to the Federal Judicial Center, the education arm of the federal judiciary and on the working group that set the ethics curriculum for federal judges and court attorneys for the federal judiciary.
Robert also served on the faculty of Oak Brook College of Law teaching ethics, remedies, and criminal procedure. He also taught business law at the SMU Cox School of Business while attending the Perkins School of Theology. He spent more than 5 years prosecuting cases becoming the First Assistant District Attorney of Hunt County, Texas, and chief felony prosecutor for the 354th District Court. He was also research editor of the South Texas Law Journal.
He lives in Greenville, Texas with his wife Diane and serves his church and community along with restoring old buildings and promoting the arts.