Smith, Selma Moidel
1919 -

Details
Alias: Selma Moidel
Born: 4/3/1919 in Warren, Ohio
Ethnicity: White/Caucasian
Professional Facts
Practice Area:
Taxation
Litigation
General Civil Practice
Regions and States of Practice:
CA, West
Legal Education:
University of Southern California School of Law
Pacific Coast University College of Law
Other Education:
Los Angeles City College
University of California, Los Angeles
University of Southern California
Positions During Her Career:
Private practice: Moidel, Moidel, Moidel and Smith (1943-1988)
Field Director, Civilian Advisory Committee to the Women's Army Corps (1943-1945)
President, Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles (1947 and 1948)
President, Los Angeles Business Women's Council (1952)
President, National Board, Medical College of Pennsylvania (1980-1982) (charter member, 1953, of the then Woman's Medical College)
National Association of Women Lawyers, (1943-): Regional Director, chair of numerous committees, author of NAWL's Centennial History (1999)
Governing Council, ABA Senior Lawyers Division (1999-2003), (Honorary, 2012-2016)
Board of Directors, California Supreme Court Historical Society (2001-)
Firsts:
Woman chair, Editorial Board, Experience Magazine, ABA Senior Lawyers Division (1999-2001)
Woman editor-in-chief, California Legal History (annual journal of California Supreme Court Historical Society) (2009--)
Named the only Honorary Life Member of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles (1998)
Accomplishments:
Inaugural Life Fellow Achievement Award, Fellows of the American Bar Foundation, 2016
Annual Selma Moidel Smith Law Student Writing Competition in California Legal History, named in her honor by California Supreme Court Historical Society, 2014.
Selected for ABA Women Trailblazers in the Law Oral History Project, 2013-2014
Annual Selma Moidel Smith Law Student Writing Competition (on women and the law) named in her honor by National Association of Women Lawyers, 2005.
Life Fellow, American Bar Foundation, 2000-.
Lifetime of Service Award, National Association of Women Lawyers, 1999.
Honorary Life Member (first and only), Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, 1998.
Decorated, "La Orden del Merito Juan Pablo Duarte," Dominican Republic, 1956.
First Place Scholarship Winner, Iota Tau Tau International Legal Scholastic Society, 1942.
International Encyclopedia of Women Composers, 1987.
Who's Who in America, 1994-.
Who's Who in American Law (first edition, 1977-).
Who's Who of American Women (first edition, 1958-).
Further Research Materials

References:
Congratulations to Selma Moidel Smith
Congratulations to Selma Moidel Smith on receiving the inaugural Life Fellow Achievement Award, Fellows of the American Bar Foundation, 2016, Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles e-Newsletter 21:7 (March 2016).
Member Spotlight
Member Spotlight and interview: Selma Moidel Smith, ABA Senior Lawyers Division, Voice of Experience Newsletter 1:2 (February 2016).
Selma Moidel Smith Musical-Legal 95th Birthday Celebration [concert event with guest speakers including justices of the California Supreme Court and performances of music composed by Smith], 2-DVD set on permanent reserve, Stanford Law Library, M3.1 .S635 S65 2014 DISC 1-2.
Oral History of Selma Moidel Smith
Oral History of Selma Moidel Smith, ABA Women Trailblazers in the Law Oral History Project, 2013-2014
A Tribute to Selma
A Tribute to Selma, California Supreme Court Associate Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar, Newsletter of the California Supreme Court Historical Society, Spring/Summer 2012
Prologue [dedication to Selma Moidel Smith]
Prologue [dedication to Selma Moidel Smith], Malinda C. Allen [chair, ABA Senior Lawyers Division Publications Committee], 22 Experience 1 (Spring 2012)
The International Committee and NAWL History of Involvement
The International Committee and NAWL History of Involvement, Selma Moidel Smith, Women Lawyers Journal 97:1&2 (Fall-Winter 2012)
Clara Foltz and the Role of the Public Defender
Clara Foltz and the Role of the Public Defender. Presented by the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles , Reception Sponsored by the California Supreme Court Historical Society, April 21, 2011.
California Life Fellow Selma Moidel Smith
California Life Fellow Selma Moidel Smith, Fellows in the news, American Bar Foundation, Oct. 14, 2010.
Feature on Justice Betty Roberts
Feature on Justice Betty Roberts, Selma Moidel Smith, Justice Betty Roberts Honored by ABA Commission on Women ,Experience 18:3 (Spring 2007), Justice Betty Roberts's Illustrious Career, Women Lawyers Journal 92:3 (Spring 2007), available at: http://www.law.stanford.edu/library/womenslegalhistory/articles/Smith-Roberts.pdf
Selma Moidel Smith Law Student Writing Competition
Selma Moidel Smith Law Student Writing Competition Established by National Association of Women Lawyers in 2006 as an annual event.
Interview of Mary Cranston
Interview of Mary Cranston, Selma Moidel Smith, Women Lawyers Journal 90:5 (Autumn 2005), with a different, shorter, version in Experience 16:1 (Fall 2005)
Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey Honored by ABA
Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey Honored by ABA, Selma Moidel Smith, Experience 14:3 (Spring 2004)
Review of Texas Tornado, the Autobiography of Louise Raggio
Review of Texas Tornado, the Autobiography of Louise Raggio, Selma Moidel Smith, Experience 14:4 (Summer 2004), reprinted in the Women Lawyers Journal 89:4 (Summer 2004).
Honors to Her Honor: Chief Justice Jean Hoefer Toal
Honors to Her Honor: Chief Justice Jean Hoefer Toal, Selma Moidel Smith, Experience 15:1 (Fall 2004).
Introducing an Award Winner Myrna Raeder
Introducing an Award Winner Myrna Raeder, Selma Moidel Smith, Experience, 13:1 (Fall 2002)
NAWL's Southern California Council
NAWL's Southern California Council, Selma Moidel Smith, Women Lawyers Journal 87:1 (Fall 2001)
A Century of Achievement: The Centennial of the National Association of Women Lawyers
Selma Moidel Smith: A Century of Achievement: The Centennial of the National Association of Women Lawyers, 85 Women Lawyers Journal 2 (Summer 1999) *Originally printed as two articles: "...The First 50 Years," 9 Experience 1 (Fall 1998), and "...The Second 50 Years," 9 Experience 2 (Winter 1999)
A New Discovery: The First Women Members of the ABA
Selma Moidel Smith, A New Discovery: The First Women Members of the ABA [Mary Belle Grossman and Mary Florence Lathrop], 9 Experience 4 (Summer 1999), *Also 85 Women Lawyers Journal 3 (2000)
Talented writer gives NAWL more than words
Talented writer gives NAWL more than words , Peggy L. Golden , Women Lawyers Journal, Summer 1999, pg. 16
Oral History of Judge Dorothy W. Nelson: "Reflections on Becoming a Judge"
Selma Moidel Smith, Oral History of Judge Dorothy W. Nelson: "Reflections on Becoming a Judge", Western Legal History (1989)
First and Only Honorary Life Member of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles
First and Only Honorary Life Member of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, WLA Newsletter, Vol. 3, Number 3, November 1989
Laura Miller Derry, Digest of Women Lawyers and Judges. Lousville, Kentucky: Dunne Press (1949)