Lisa Smith

Lisa Smith is an American author and former attorney whose memoir Girl Walks Out of a Bar, published in 2016, is a candid and compelling account of her decade-long struggle with alcohol and cocaine addiction while working as a high-functioning lawyer at a major New York City law firm. Smith’s story challenges common assumptions about who suffers from addiction by documenting how the disease can operate invisibly behind the facade of professional success, designer suits, and prestigious accomplishments.

Smith earned her law degree and built a successful career in corporate law, all while concealing a dependency that eventually required inpatient treatment. Her memoir traces the escalation of her addiction, the near-impossibility of asking for help within a culture that prizes toughness and productivity, and the difficult path of recovery that ultimately cost her the career she had built.

Girl Walks Out of a Bar was praised by readers in recovery and by advocates for addiction awareness for its honesty, its lack of shame, and its refusal to romanticize either addiction or recovery. Smith does not present herself as uniquely sympathetic — she is clear-eyed about her own denial and the ways her privilege both enabled her addiction and eventually helped her access treatment. The book has been used in recovery communities, law schools, and corporate wellness programs.

Since publication, Smith has become an advocate for addiction awareness and mental health, speaking at law firms, universities, and recovery organizations about the particular pressures of high-achievement professional culture and the stigma that prevents people from seeking help. She continues to write and speak on these topics.