The Montana Innocence Project is thrilled to welcome Brady Smith as our new Legal Director. With her extensive experience, unwavering passion, and deep roots in Montana, Brady is committed to advancing justice and advocating for wrongly convicted and unjustly incarcerated Montanans.
Born and raised in Boulder, Montana, Brady grew up on her family’s ranch, fostering a profound connection to the land and community that continues to inspire her work. Her early passion for storytelling and advocacy led her to pursue undergraduate studies in journalism at Gonzaga University. After graduation, she expanded her perspective through service in the Peace Corps in Ghana, West Africa—an experience that solidified her dedication to service. Through that service, she learned the importance of empowering and lifting up the voices of the people in the community she served.
Brady went on to attend the University of Montana Alexander Blewett III School of Law, driven by a desire to make a tangible difference in people’s lives. She began her legal career as a public defender in Montana, where she was inspired by her father, an attorney and former public defender in Missoula.
“Growing up I had always been really motivated by fighting against injustice, and also fighting for the underdog,” Brady expressed. “When I went to law school I was interested in being a public defender because I was inspired by the work that my dad had done. I saw the way the system was set up against indigent people and people of color…I knew that I wanted to use the tools I have been given to help other people fight against injustice.”
With nearly 13 years of experience as a public defender in Montana, Utah, and Louisiana, Brady has gained invaluable insight into the criminal legal system. Prior to her current role, she served as both a supervising attorney and trial attorney for the Orleans Public Defenders, in New Orleans, LA where she represented clients charged with life without parole offenses and supervised attorneys representing those clients. She also served as a trial attorney for the Salt Lake Legal Defender Association, in Salt Lake City, UT where she defended clients in the felony trial attorney division. Earlier in her career, Brady worked as the deputy public defender, for the Office of the Public Defender in Helena, MT, where she litigated a diverse caseload that included juvenile, felony, misdemeanor, competency, and dependent neglect cases. Her unwavering passion for innocence work is rooted in her firsthand experiences witnessing the wrongful convictions of her own clients, fueling her commitment to justice and reform.
“Some of the biggest injustices I have seen have been watching the system convict innocent clients. Watching that happen despite all my efforts has been heartbreaking every time,” Brady reflected. Her dedication to this cause has been a driving force throughout her career.
Outside of her professional life, Brady enjoys hiking, camping, fly fishing, listening to live music, and crafting. She is also a proud mother to her six-month-old son.
“Being a mother has given me a whole new perspective on my work and my life,” Brady shared. “I have always been fighting injustice in the system, but now I get to do it for him. I hope to change it so he can grow up in a better system than the one we have now.”
After being a public defender for over a decade, she was looking to make the next step in her career as she managed the challenges of being a new mother while also continuing to do work that she was passionate about. This led her to apply for the Legal Director position with the Montana Innocence Project. As she steps into her new role, she is eager to continue building on MTIP’s impactful work.
“I’ve been watching others challenge wrongful convictions since I was in law school and even before,” Brady shared. “I’ve always been someone who wanted to stand up for injustice, especially in the context of innocence. I think that there are multiple types of injustices that can happen to people in our system, but obviously the idea that someone can be wrongfully convicted is paramount. To me this work is already fundamentally a part of my belief system. I talk about wrongful convictions, innocent clients, and these injustices daily. The fact that I get to do that now as a part of my job is really exciting. The Montana Innocence Project has already done so much amazing work and I am looking forward to being a part of that and being able to build on that.”
Brady is particularly looking forward to engaging directly with clients to get to know them and their stories, alongside her broader efforts to educate and raise awareness about wrongful and unjust convictions.
“I’m really glad I get to keep doing some direct representation, while also working on everything from a broader level to reform the system as a whole,” Brady said.
Brady’s dedication to justice, combined with her commitment to community and criminal justice reform, makes her a strong leader for the Montana Innocence Project. She is eager to provide legal representation for innocent and other unjustly incarcerated individuals and to work toward true justice for our state and communities.