Mary L. Smith, a former CEO of the multibillion-dollar Indian Health Service, took the helm on Tuesday as the American Bar Association's president, making her the first Native American woman to take on such a role.

Smith, a member of the Cherokee Nation, has held various leadership positions in the ABA in the past, including secretary from 2018 to 2020. Her experience in the association also includes a two-term stint on the ABA Board of Governors and several elected positions in its litigation, civil rights and social justice sections. She also served as the ABA's representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

"The American Bar Association and the legal profession have always lifted their voices to lead and chart the future," Smith said in a statement on Tuesday. "Our country is at an inflection point, and we are called again to lead to address threats to democracy and both the promise and peril of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. Law touches all aspects of society, and I hope that the ABA can welcome in all lawyers, as well as non-lawyers, who are invested in improving the profession, serving the public and protecting the rule of law."

Native American and civil rights attorneys have dubbed Smith a "trailblazer," saying she is paving the way for Indigenous counsel through her work to help law students through first-of-a-kind studies and fundraising efforts for scholarships and more.

Read more at Law360