Mailee Smith is the Illinois Policy Institute’s vice president of policy and litigation.

Mailee’s expertise has been featured in hundreds of television, radio and podcast appearances, including Fox News, the Cato Institute and multiple Chicago and national stations. Her opinion pieces and legal analyses have appeared in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, National Review and the Chicago Tribune.

Mailee earned her law degree from Valparaiso University and her bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Greenville University.

After law school, Mailee clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth L. Ryskamp in the Southern District of Florida. Prior to joining the institute, Mailee worked at a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, where she drafted legislation and served as the organization’s primary litigation attorney.

Mailee is admitted to practice in the state of Illinois, the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th and 11th circuits.