Joyce Smithey

Joyce Smithey is the Managing Partner and founder of Smithey Law Group LLC, a boutique law firm focused exclusively on employment and labor law. With more than two decades of experience, Ms. Smithey represents employees in complex workplace disputes and provides strategic counsel on a wide range of employment matters. Ms. Smithey has been consistently recognized among the top employment lawyers in Maryland and nationally. In 2026, she was again selected for inclusion as a Maryland Super Lawyer in Labor and Employment Law. She has also been named among Maryland’s Top 50 Women Attorneys and Top 100 Attorneys by Baltimore Magazine for multiple years. Additional honors include SmartCEO’s Centers of Influence Award, multiple Leadership in Law Awards and Top 100 Women in Maryland recognitions from The Daily Record, a Band 1 ranking in Chambers USA, and national recognition by Lawdragon as one of the 500 Leading Plaintiff Employment & Civil Rights Lawyers in the United States. Bethesda Magazine has also recognized Ms. Smithey as a Top Attorney. Ms. Smithey is frequently called upon by national and regional media to comment on workplace and employment law issues. She has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report, NBC, NPR, Law360, Law.com, The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, Washington Business Journal, Maryland Public Television, Newsmax, MSN, and other national and regional outlets. Her practice focuses on advising employees on a broad range of employment law matters, including discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, equal pay claims, disability accommodation, wrongful termination, wage and hour disputes, employment contracts and restrictive covenants, workplace privacy, defamation, ERISA discrimination, and WARN Act issues. Ms. Smithey has represented clients in state and federal courts, arbitrations, and before administrative agencies including the U.S. Department of Labor and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She has extensive litigation experience including jury trials, bench trials, administrative hearings, and appellate arguments before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the First and Fourth Circuits. She is also a trained mediator in workplace disputes. In addition to her legal practice, Ms. Smithey is an educator and author on employment law and civil litigation. She authored the Fourth Edition of Maryland Rules Commentary and is a contributing author to the Maryland State Bar Association’s Maryland Employment Law Deskbook.