Clay Smith

Clay Smith has a very diverse background, having grown up in Florida, California, and Iran. Clay attended high school in Stockton, California (Benjamin Franklin) and in Jacksonville, Florida (Ed White and Douglas Anderson School of the Arts). After high school he joined the United States Marine Corps, where he served honorably for 5+ years until his humanitarian discharge to provide living assistance for his younger brother, also a Marine, who broke his neck and was rendered quadriplegic.

During the period shortly after his discharge, Clay performed a variety of jobs, including ditch digging. Along the way, he found his love and married her. She had two small children and together they were a ready-made family. Seeking to settle down, he found a permanent position with Melrose Apartments as a technical manual writer. His love of computers and the Information and Technology (IT) field drew him to work in that sector. Clay became an on-site time and attendance software and hardware installer for ADP and traveled extensively throughout the US. He obtained several prestigious certifications in the IT field, including Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, CompTia's A+ and Network+ certifications and over 14 Hewlett Packard certifications just to name a few. Having reached the top tier in his field with ADP, he went to work as a Y2K team lead for Blue Cross and Blue Shield. One day he got a call from an IT recruiter who simply asked, "How'd you like to work on rockets?" Having answered in the affirmative, Clay went to work at Kennedy Space Center as a systems engineer for NASA. Following the end of that contract, Clay went to work at the headquarters of the IRS in Washington, D.C. The travel became too much as the children were now in their teens and needed the presence of their step-dad at home. Clay returned to Jacksonville and went to work at Sea Star Line, Inc., as an IT specialist. At this time, he also began his secondary education at Florida Community College at Jacksonville. He achieved his Associates of Arts degree and then transferred to the University of North Florida. Clay and his wife decided that he should leave his position at Sea Star Line and concentrate on his education. He graduated from UNF with honors and was accepted for enrollment into Florida Coastal School of Law. While in law school, Clay focused his studies on international and family law; including an inaugural study abroad program to Clermont-Ferrand, France to study international law and human rights. Clay's wife and he formed Smith Legal, P.A., so that they could practice in the manner which allows them to provide a personal, practical and professional experience for their clients.

Clay enjoys surfing, kayaking, gourmet cooking, reading and studying histories of other cultures and spending time with his family and friends. He is an expert on the Aztec, Inca, and Maya and also the Roman Empire. However, his two main loves (excluding his wife of course) are computers and international travel. Clay has traveled to more than 13 countries and is still counting!

Clay's diverse upbringing, life experiences, education and prior employment allow him a broad knowledge base upon which to provide clients real-world legal and practical solutions.

Florida

Since 2010

• General Civil