Jessie Fink

More than two decades into a successful landscape architecture career with SmithGroup, Jess took on a completely new challenge: earning a law degree and transitioning to SmithGroup's legal team. "My experience as a landscape architect and project manager gives me a special perspective in the legal world," says Jess, now the firm's associate general counsel. "With my understanding of the incredible work our staff does on a daily basis, I can better assist them in managing risk for our clients while creating amazing design solutions." As a landscape architect, Jess's favorite projects were those that "intertwine the resiliency of natural systems with spaces for people," like Tennessee's Clarksville Marina and Lake Erie's Euclid Shoreline. "Now I enjoy using my ecological design knowledge to restore prairie and woodland habitats on my own property, slowly converting an old pasture to an oak savanna."