About Roger Smith
Roger Smith Jr. took a road into law that began in the humanities. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1991, then returned to formal study later in the decade to receive his J.D. from Campbell Law School in 1999. The sequence helps explain a practical and plainspoken approach to courtroom work. Legal training came after a spell in business; he co-founded Appalachian Designs in 1993, an entrepreneurial venture that preceded his law degree and gave him early experience in operations and client relations.
His legal career started the year he finished law school. In 1999 he joined Tharrington Smith, a firm where he has practiced for many years. The firm listing identifies his office as Tharrington Smith LLP. Over time his practice became closely tied to trial work, and he developed a steady presence in local courtrooms. Memberships in local and national trial organizations reflect those priorities.
Smith maintains active involvement in professional groups. He holds current memberships in the Wake County Bar Association, the Wake County Academy of Criminal Trial Lawyers, the North Carolina Bar Association and the North Carolina Advocates for Justice. He is also a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the American Bar Association and the American Judicature Society. That roster of associations signals regular participation in continuing legal education and peer networks that orient around trial skills and criminal litigation.
Colleagues describe Smith as concise in the courtroom and attentive at deposition. He favors direct examination that keeps jurors engaged and cross-examination aimed at key credibility issues. His background in English is visible in written work; briefs and motions tend to be economical and readable. The record shows steady trial practice rather than a shift into appellate work or transactional specialties.
Today he practices in North Carolina and continues at Tharrington Smith LLP. His daily work remains anchored in criminal defense and trial practice in state courts, where he represents clients and appears regularly before judges and juries in Wake County and elsewhere in North Carolina.
