Colby Smith was born and raised in Georgia and eventually found himself in Ketchikan, Alaska, clerking for Judge Thompson. After climbing a few mountains, he began working in Juneau, Alaska, initially with the Special Litigation Torts Division of the Attorney General’s Office, and then at the law firm of Lessmeier & Winters. The firm was gracious enough to allow Colby to hold his own briefcase by contracting with the City of Juneau to handle the City’s public defense work. In 2002, he joined Bob Griffin, eventually forming Griffin & Smith in the samemonth his twinswere born. He has a active civil defense practice with an emphasis on representing employers in workers’ compensation cases. He maintains some of his greatest successes were the cases resolved prior to being litigated. He additionally credits good decisions and outcomes as a result ofmaintaining a consensus within his office. This is his sixth year presentin at the annual workers’ compensation CLE. He often feels as though the CLE preparation work is analogous to studying for the bar exam, but unfortunately even if you do well, you have to do it again. Colby thrives doing various activities including shrimping, fishing, watching his kids play lots of soccer, and running. If anyone has ever spoken to Colby about shrimping or fishing, they will know the word “thrives” does not belong. He is particularly proud that he has been “running” on insulin since 1979.