Otis M. Smith

Who was Otis M. Smith?

Otis M. Smith was the first African American justice on the Michigan Supreme Court and the General Counsel for General Motors.

Smith graduated from law school at The Catholic University of America in 1950, where he was a member of the first volume of the school's Law Review.

He then went to Flint, Michigan, where he engaged in private practice until 1957. At that time he was appointed to the Michigan Public Service Commission.

From 1959 until 1961 Smith served as Michigan Auditor General.

He was appointed a justice of the Michigan Supreme Court in 1961 by Governor John Swainson. He lost a re-election bid in 1967, and was then hired by General Motors. He would rise to become vice-president and General Counsel. In 1983, his portrait was dedicated at the Michigan Supreme Court. A portrait also hangs in the admissions of The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law.

A scholarship in his name is administered by the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan. It is given to a single mother, and can be used for tuition at Wayne State University, any campus of the University of Michigan, or the law school at The Catholic University of America.