Prior to becoming a lawyer, Larry Smeets studied international and Asian history at the University of Saskatchewan. He completed a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree there, and then a Masters of Arts degree. Larry was awarded a full graduate scholarship to complete the Masters degree, which focused on recent Chinese domestic and foreign policy.

After Larry completed his graduate degree, he taught history for the History Department at the University of Saskatchewan for one year. Then he enrolled in the Faculty of Law at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, where he completed a Bachelor of Laws degree. While he was completing his law degree he taught night courses in Chinese history for the university’s extension division. Larry completed his legal education in 1990. He then moved to British Columbia to article and to practice law. In 2002 he established his own law firm, Smeets Law.

Over the years Larry’s practice has followed two main paths. One is a litigation path, which includes both criminal and civil litigation. The other is an immigration and international track.In recent years some of his cases have attained national prominence in Canada as well as internationally, and have been featured in news pieces offered by such media as the CBC National News, CBC “As It Happens” (to listen to an interview conducted on October 23, 2009, go to Part 2 of “As It Happens Larry Smeets”), The National Post, The Globe and Mail, and The Vancouver Sun, along with various local television and newspaper outlets.”

Larry is a member of several organizations, including The Law Society of British Columbia, the Canadian Bar Association, the International Commission of Jurists, and the Canadian Council on International Law. He is also on the list of assigned counsel of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

Larry’s hobbies and interests are varied and wide-ranging. He has devoted much of his time to the study of languages, and is able to communicate at various levels of proficiency with his clients and others in French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese. More recently, he has begun to study Greek.

Larry has also devoted much of his time over the years to writing legal articles, opinion pieces, and poetry. His writings have been featured in various publications, including the Australian Journal of Law and Society, The Far Eastern Economic Review, and The Vancouver Sun. His poetry and opinion pieces have also been published in various publications. His first book of poetry was published in 2018.

Larry loves music. He plays the piano and sings, and is a member of the Vancouver-based choir Chor Leoni.