Toria D. Smith

Toria Denise Smith began her legal career in 2015 as law clerk for the Honorable R. Keith Kelly, Circuit Court Judge, having previously worked as his paralegal for over 10 years. Following her clerkship, Toria worked for Solicitor Barry Barnette as an Assistant Solicitor for the Seventh Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office. She served as the Domestic Violence Prosecutor for Cherokee County, where she prosecuted hundreds of cases and tried many to verdict. Toria also handled cases involving charges of murder, attempted murder, burglary, robbery, kidnapping, malicious injury to personal property, DUI, and drug possession.

While working as an Assistant Solicitor, Toria joined the South Carolina Young Lawyer’s Division of the South Carolina Bar Association, and served on the committees for Voices Against Violence and Protecting Our Youth. She also conducted domestic violence training for the Gaffney Police Department and Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office to ensure that victim’s rights are protected. Transitioning to private practice, Toria has that same dedication to her clients and works hard to provide the highest level of legal representation, using the skills she developed in the court room.

“I have a passion to serve and to help people who are hurting,” she says. “People come to us during the most vulnerable and frightening times in their lives, and they need to know that someone is fighting for them.”

Toria graduated from the Converse College Paralegal Program in 2001. She received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from The University of South Carolina in 2006. In 2015, Toria graduated from of the Charlotte School of Law, where she earned her Juris Doctor Degree. During law school, she worked as a real estate paralegal for FrickTrent, LLC.

Toria is a native of Spartanburg, where she currently lives with her husband. They have six children and three grandchildren. She enjoys spending time with her family, working alongside her husband on many projects around their home, teaching the youth at their church, and traveling. She and her husband strive to be positive role models for their family by exhibiting hard work and sacrifice; and, by helping those in need. She believes that life is about choices: “Either we choose to allow our obstacles to affect our lives negatively or we find something positive within the struggle to strengthen our character.”