Jessica E. Smith

Jessica E. Smith is an attorney with the James, Smith, Dietterick & Connelly LLP law firm, which has law offices in Hershey and Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. A top-rated lawyer with more than 11 years of legal experience, Ms. Smith focuses her practice solely on family law. She provides invaluable representation to clients across Central Pennsylvania who are going through a divorce and need help achieving the favorable outcomes they seek for their legal issues involving child custody and support, property division, alimony, and other related matters.

Along with handling all aspects of divorce, Ms. Smith also provides much-needed guidance and support to families seeking to adopt, and she has extensive experience handling matters such as grandparents' rights, relocations and visitation plans, juvenile dependency, and termination of parental rights and as well as helping domestic violence victims secure the protections they need against their abusers.

No matter the issues her clients are facing or the complexity of their needs and goals, Ms. Smith delivers highly personalized counsel to help them make the best-informed decisions and increase their chances of success. She is also well-versed in mediation and collaborative law to help her clients resolve their conflicts and reach agreements without having to resort to costly and stressful court battles.

Although originally from Harrisburg where she currently resides, Ms. Smith received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She then attended the American University Washington College of Law, where she obtained her Juris Doctor in 2008. Along with practicing before all Pennsylvania state courts, she is also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Active in her legal community, Ms. Smith is a member of the Dauphin County Bar Association and former secretary and social chair of the organization's Young Lawyers Division. She is also a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Collaborative Professionals of Central Pennsylvania, where she has served as membership coordinator.

Committed to her local community as well, Ms. Smith is board member of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Central Pennsylvania Chapter, and she is the past president of the Junior League of Harrisburg. She is also highly active with her local YMCA and its Domestic Violence Legal Center.