Kim Smaczniak is the lead mitigation negotiator for the U.S. Department of State climate negotiations team. In addition to her work at the State Department, Kim is an adjunct professor at the University Maryland College of Law and Howard University School of Law, teaching a Clean Air Act seminar and International Environmental Law seminar respectively. Kim is also the former chair of the American Bar Association’s International Environmental Law Committee, and currently chairs that Committee’s rule of law initiatives.
Prior to joining the State Department, Kim served as counsel at the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, providing legal advice and supporting federal oversight relating to a variety of environmental laws, and as a Trial Attorney with the United States Department of Justice Environmental and Natural Resource Division. At the U.S. Department of Justice, Kim had a diverse practice litigating on behalf of federal agencies under federal environmental laws, including defending EPA greenhouse gas rules in the D.C. Circuit. Kim was nominated for her work at the Department of Justice for the John Marshall Award, DoJ’s highest awards offered to attorneys. Kim received her J.D from Harvard Law School, a Masters of Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and additionally studied international law at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland.