Otis M. Smith

Otis M. Smith (1922–1994) was the first African American justice on the Michigan Supreme Court and the General Counsel for General Motors.[1]

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.[2]

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.[3]

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.[4] 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.[5] A portrait also hangs in the admissions of The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law.[6]

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.[7]