Farleigh Earhart steps up as Acting General Counsel

Secretary Bunch announced that Associate General Counsel Farleigh Earhart will assume the responsibilities of Acting General Counsel, effective March 1.

Earhart reports to the Board of Regents and Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch. She serves as the principal legal advisor to the Board, the Secretary and other Institution officials.

The Smithsonian’s general counsel directs and coordinates all legal matters and prepares legal opinions relevant to the operations of the Institution, including coordination with the Department of Justice on litigation matters, representation in administrative proceedings, engagement and management of outside counsel and management of the team of lawyers and support staff who provide the legal advice and representation to the entire Institution.

Earhart has served in the Office of the General Counsel since 1999. Prior to joining the Smithsonian, she was a trial attorney in the Department of Justice, Environmental Crimes Section, and practiced environmental law with Morgan Lewis. Earhart was a law clerk to Judge John M. Duhé Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

“Many of you have had the opportunity to work with Farleigh during her decades of work in the Smithsonian’s Office of General Counsel,” said Secretary Bunch. ”Since starting as an Assistant General Counsel in 1999, Farleigh has practiced in a variety of areas, from employment litigation to advancement to (most recently) vaccine law. Farleigh has participated in numerous SI-wide working groups and collaborates closely with in-house counsel for other museums and federal agencies. We have all come to rely on her depth of knowledge about the work of the Smithsonian and its unique legal nature.”

Earhart earned her juris doctor degree with honors from the University of North Carolina School of Law, where she was an articles editor on the North Carolina Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif. She received her Bachelor of Arts with honors in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Earhart will serve as Acting General Counsel until a new General Counsel is appointed. She replaces longtime Smithsonian General Counsel Judith Leonard, who retired March 1, 2023.

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