Full Name
Addy Schmitt
Job Title
Member
Company
Miller & Chevalier
Speaker Bio
Addy R. Schmitt, Vice Chair of the firm's Litigation Department, represents individuals and corporations, including trust services companies and trustees, in criminal and civil litigation. Ms. Schmitt has significant trial experience, including recent trials in the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland federal courts, as well as extensive experience representing clients facing parallel proceedings in multiple jurisdictions. In 2016, she represented an individual who was found not guilty on all counts in a federal criminal bribery and defense procurement fraud jury trial in Virginia. That year, the Corporate Crime Reporter named Ms. Schmitt to the list of "150 Women in White Collar," a list of distinguished leading female white collar practitioners in the United States. In addition to white collar matters, Ms. Schmitt focuses on complex civil litigation involving the federal government. She is also often called upon to conduct sensitive internal investigations for a variety of clients, including a prominent labor union.

Before joining the firm, Ms. Schmitt served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia from January 2010 to January 2014, where she represented federal executive agencies and employees at all stages of litigation in matters pending before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Ms. Schmitt's cases involved a wide range of legal issues, including employment discrimination, administrative procedure, tort, fraud, and Freedom of Information Act claims.

Ms. Schmitt began her legal career as an Associate for Dickstein Shapiro, LLP, where she handled a wide range of civil cases at all stages of the litigation process. Ms. Schmitt also served as a law clerk to the Honorable Emmet G. Sullivan on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Ms. Schmitt is very active in the community at both the national and local level. In 2018, Ms. Schmitt was elected to the board of directors of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. In 2017, President Barack Obama appointed Ms. Schmitt to the District of Columbia Judicial Nominations Commission, the body that recommends candidates for judicial positions on the District of Columbia Superior Court and Court of Appeals to the president and appoints the chief judges for those courts. She has also chaired the selection panels for magistrate judges for both the U.S. District Court and the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. She recently completed two terms on the District Court's Committee on Grievances and is a member of a number of local legal organizations, including the Edward Bennett Williams Inn of Court and the Lawyers' Club of Washington. Since 2012, Ms. Schmitt has been an Adjunct Professor at the American University Washington College of Law, where she has co-taught courses in criminal trial advocacy, white collar crime, and taking and defending depositions. Since 2006, Ms. Schmitt has served on the board of directors of the Abramson Scholarship Foundation, a non-profit that provides scholarships and mentoring to DC public school graduates attending college.

Prior to law school, Ms. Schmitt worked as a staff assistant in the office of Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and as a lobbyist for a large national non-profit organization.
Addy Schmitt