Savannah Walker Smith

Savannah Walker Smith is a Partner at Taylor Porter, where she practices in commercial litigation, general/tort litigation, insurance defense, criminal defense, and family law. She is admitted to practice in all Louisiana state courts and in the United States District Courts for the Middle, Eastern, and Western Districts of Louisiana. Savannah’s peers selected her as one of Louisiana Super Lawyers “Rising Stars.” In 2023, Savannah was a finalist for the Frank L. Maraist Award presented by the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel (LADC) and the Young Lawyers Committee. The nominees are chosen based on professional excellence, service to the profession and the bar, service to the community, and reputation for or advancement of legal ethics and professional liability.

Before entering her legal practice, Savannah was a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Magistrate Judge Kathleen Kay at the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana (Lake Charles division). There, she gained experience in federal and state criminal matters, Section 1983 civil rights litigation, and commercial contract disputes. Through various law firm clerkships, including at Taylor Porter, Savannah gained further experience in professional legal responsibility, ethics and disciplinary proceedings, criminal defense, family law, commercial litigation, medical malpractice, healthcare compliance, general liability defense, governmental liability, and maritime.

Savannah earned her J.D., summa cum laude, in 2018 from Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center, where she was a member of the Louisiana Law Review and served as senior editor. She was a member of the Order of the Coif and also Public Interest Law Society. Savannah received CALI awards for excellence in Legal Research and Writing; Obligations; Criminal Procedure; Legal Professions; Sales and Lease; Evidence; and Health Law. Savannah graduated from Louisiana State University, summa cum laude, in 2015, with a B.A. in English and a minor in Spanish. She was an active member of Kappa Delta Sorority.

Savannah is the author of “Policing Hate: The Problematic Expansion of Louisiana’s Hate Crime Law to Include Police Officers,” published in Volume 78 of the Louisiana Law Review.

Savannah served as the 2022 – 2023 chair of the Great Futures Gala Committee for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Louisiana.

In her spare time, Savannah enjoys traveling, reading, cooking, and watching the LSU Tigers.

• Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center, J.D., 2018
• Louisiana State University, B.A., English, 2015

• All Federal and State Courts in Louisiana

• Baton Rouge Bar Association
• Louisiana State Bar Association

• Louisiana Super Lawyers – “Rising Star”
• Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel (LADC) – 2023 Frank L. Maraist Award Finalist

• “Top 10 Things I Wish I Knew as a First-Year Associate,” The Baton Rouge Lawyer, May/June 2022
• “E-Signature, Electronic Endorsement of Notary Temporarily Acceptable in COVID-19,” The Taylor Porter Legal Blog, April 28, 2020 

• Boys & Girls Club of Metro Louisiana (Great Futures Gala Committee)