Professional Summary

Katherine Smith is an accomplished trial and appellate lawyer with over a decade of extensive experience in complex and serious cases, particularly in the areas of criminal litigation and appeals and civil forfeiture litigation involving criminal property. Some notable examples of her accomplishments and reported decisions include: in criminal law, the acquittal following trial in which she was co-counsel, of three separate clients charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking cocaine in amounts ranging from 38 to 144 kilograms of cocaine in Manitoba and British Columbia; in criminal appellate litigation, the overturning of a wrongful conviction in a serious sexual assault case involving a minor in the Manitoba Court of Appeal and the successful appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada and ultimate acquittal of a client in a case involving the seizure of 17 kilograms of cocaine; in deportation proceedings, the successful defence of a client accused of being inadmissible to Canada on the grounds that he was involved in organized crime following the seizure of one million dollars from his vehicle. She has defended multiple high-profile multi-million-dollar drug seizures involving the use of electronic surveillance.   In the last year alone, Kate has secured stays of proceedings for clients charged with offences ranging from possession of controlled substances for the purposes of trafficking to assault on a peace officer, kidnapping and aggravated assault. She has won acquittals for clients charged with impaired operation of motor vehicles including a case involving two deaths and for clients charged with refusing to comply with demands for their breath. Kate has appeared before all levels of court including the Supreme Court of Canada and has acted as counsel before professional regulators and members of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. In addition to her Canadian practice, Kate was called to the State Bar of California in June of 2023. She obtained her law degree from Robson Hall where she earned the Highest Standing in Criminal Law and Procedure and was awarded the Neil James MacDonald Memorial Prize. Upon her call to the Bar of Manitoba in 2013, she articled under Sheldon Pinx, Q.C. Kate speaks both English and Spanish.

Education

• Robson Hall, Juris Doctorate | 2012