O. Nicole Smith
Nicole Smith is a Partner at Langdon & Emison, where she represents individuals and families hurt by dangerous products and corporate negligence.
Nicole’s practice has most recently focused on catastrophic injuries caused by automotive defects, including seat and head restraint failures; rideshare companies such as Lyft; and delivery providers such as Amazon. She also helps lead the firm’s mass tort dockets involving injuries caused by medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and pesticides/herbicides.
Nicole learned how cases are won and lost from the bench. She clerked for judges at the state appellate and county levels, giving her firsthand insight into what persuades a court. She also clerked for Langdon & Emison during law school before later joining the firm.
The National Trial Lawyers named Nicole to its 40 Under 40 list for 2018. She has also been honored as a Super Lawyers Rising Star and received the Up and Coming Lawyer Award from Missouri Lawyers Media. She serves on the Board of the Association for Women Lawyers of Greater Kansas City and on The Missouri Bar’s Standing Committee on Well-Being in the Profession, and she is a graduate of The Missouri Bar and the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association’s Bar Leadership Academies.
Nicole speaks regularly to other lawyers. She presented the CLE “Rising Counsel: Considerations from Intake through Trial for Beginning Litigators” to the Association for Women Lawyers in January 2026, and to the KCMBA in June 2026. She spoke on “Mom Guilt: The Internal Conflict” at the Society of Women Trial Lawyers 2026 Annual Conference and has been a guest on the RebuttalPR Podcast.
At the University of Kansas School of Law, Nicole earned a CALI Award in Healthcare Financing & Regulation, and was a member of the Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy. She also worked as a research assistant to Professor Stephen Ware and received a scholarship from the Lafayette County Bar Association.
Education
- J.D., University of Kansas School of Law; Lawrence, KS
- B.A., William Jewell College; Liberty, MO
Admissions
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State of Kansas
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United Sates District Court for the Western District of Missouri
- United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Honors
- National Trial Lawyers 40 Under 40, Civil Plaintiff
- Super Lawyers Rising Star
- Missouri Lawyer’s Media Up and Coming Award
- Graduate, MO Bar Leadership Academy
- Graduate, KCMBA Bar Leadership Academy
- Lafayette County Bar Association Scholarship
Leadership
- Board Member, Association for Women Lawyers of Greater Kansas City
- Member, The Missouri Bar Standing Committee on Well-Being in the Profession
Speaking Engagements
- Guest, RebuttalPR Podcast, July 2026
- “Rising Counsel: Considerations from Intake through Trial for Beginning Litigators,” KCMBA CLE, June 2026
- “Mom Guilt: The Internal Conflict,” Society of Women Trial Lawyers Annual Conference, April 2026
- “Rising Counsel: Considerations from Intake through Trial for Beginning Litigators,” AWL CLE, January 2026
Publications
Professional Memberships
- American Association for Justice
- Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys
- Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association
- Association for Women Lawyers of Greater Kansas City
- Society of Women Trial Lawyers
- The Missouri Bar Association
- Kansas Bar Association
- Lafayette County Bar Association
- Women En Masse
- Attorneys Information Exchange Group