Patrick Smith joined the Board in 2000 and served as chair of the board from 2000 to 2006 and as president of the CHIME Institute from 2004 to 2006. His association with the CHIME Institute began in 1996 with the enrollment of his son Daniel in the CHIME preschool program. He and his wife Delia are founding parents of the CHIME charter schools, and four of their five children are either attending or are graduates of the schools. Mr. Smith is a partner at Beltran, Beltran, Smith, Oppel & MacKenzie, LLP, and a practicing attorney for over 24 years. His practice areas are varied, but focus on public interest litigation, including civil rights law, education issues, and criminal defense at all levels. His primary focus involves the representation of families with members who have disabilities, involving educational and other service related issues, juvenile law, and adult and juvenile criminal defense. His practice has included and continues to include appellate representation before the United States Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and all state appellate courts. His trial practice is national and includes work before the California Office of Administrative Hearings and state and federal court, including courts in CA, TN, CO, NE, TX and IL. He is a lecturer and author for attorney Continuing Education programs in California on civil rights and education. Previously, he was an associate at the law firm of Klass, Helman & Ross specializing in civil rights, business litigation and transactions, and criminal defense. He has also served as law clerk to the Honorable Robert M. Takasugi, Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, and as an attorney in the Los Angeles County Public Defender Office and in the United States Department of Justice Honors Program.

His community service includes having served as vice president of the board of directors of the Dubnoff Center, a nonpublic school, and as a member of the board of trustees for the Williams Syndrome Foundation. He teaches religious education at his local church.

Mr. Smith has a bachelor’s degree in English from Northern Arizona University and a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Southwestern University School of Law.