Najelie Smith-Ortiz, J.D.

Najelie Smith-Ortiz, J.D.

Najelie Smith-Ortiz was born in Puerto Rico and is fluent in Spanish. As the first in her family to pursue a law degree, she brings a personal understanding of the obstacles faced by underrepresented communities and focuses on serving Spanish-speaking clients with clarity and compassion.

Before law school, she assisted in workers’ compensation and personal injury cases, gaining hands-on experience in client care and legal preparation. Throughout law school, she built on this foundation through clinics and externships serving immigrant, low-income, and Spanish-speaking clients.

At Hofstra Law, Ms. Smith-Ortiz was selected as a Dean’s Legal-Tech Fellow, developing AI-driven projects to expand access to justice and courtroom efficiency. Her team’s work was featured multiple times by Hofstra Law and presented at RelativityFest, where she was one of only 26 scholars nationwide invited to present, and at Suffolk University Law School’s Legal Innovation and Technology (LIT) Conference, focused on applied AI. She was also part of the winning team at the National Legal Innovation Tournament, sponsored by the New York State Bar Association.

Ms. Smith-Ortiz blends legal innovation, cultural fluency, and client-centered advocacy to help make the legal system more accessible and effective for all clients.