About Laura (Smith)
Laura (Smith) Hoover earned her J.D. from Wayne State University Law School in 2006 after completing a B.A. in Political Science and Psychology at the University of Detroit Mercy in 2003. She moved into clinical work while still in law school, gaining hands-on experience that would shape the early years of her career.
Her first legal roles came through the Free Legal Aid Clinic, where she served as a student lawyer in 2007 and then took on a litigation supervisor role and a seat on the board of directors in 2008. Those assignments paired casework with organizational responsibilities. They required courtroom preparation, client counseling and an eye for how a small clinic operates.
After the clinic, she joined Joseph P. McCaffery & Associates as an associate in 2009. The firm work broadened her exposure to case management and formal litigation procedures. In 2010 she worked as a contract lawyer for Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, handling assignments that integrated into larger litigation teams and exposed her to firm-based practice at a different scale.
Also in 2010 she began practicing as a solo practitioner under the name Laura J Hoover, Lawyer at Law. She has maintained that solo practice since then. Running a one-lawyer office meant taking responsibility for every aspect of representation and of the business itself. She has balanced client intake, motion practice, trial preparation and the daily logistics of a small office.
Hoover is active in the Illinois legal community. She holds an Illinois bar license registered with the Lawyer Registration and Discipline Commission and practices in Illinois. She has maintained memberships in the Chicago Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar Association since 2009. Since 2010 she has volunteered as a pro bono lawyer for the Chicago Bar Association’s Statutory Summary Suspension Program, handling matters that require quick response and careful advocacy.
Her career traces a clear line from law school clinics to courtroom work and then to independent practice. Cases and client needs have driven the mix of litigation and client counseling in her office. Today she runs her solo practice in Illinois and concentrates her work on litigation matters and client representation in state proceedings.
