Randall A. Smith - Partner
BiographyBorn in New York and raised in Geneva, Switzerland and Washington D.C., Randall Smith is a veteran trial lawyer who has successfully handled a variety of civil, commercial and criminal litigation. Mr. Smith is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Amherst College ('78) and Yale Law School ('82), who then moved to New Orleans to serve as a law clerk in 1982-1983 to the Honorable Charles Schwartz, Jr., United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
After completing his clerkship, Mr. Smith accepted a position with the Stone Pigman law firm, where he was named partner after five years in 1988. At the end of 1994, Mr. Smith left the partnership to pursue his vision of a boutique litigation firm that focused on providing excellent trial counsel for both plaintiffs and defendants in complex cases.
Since 1995, Mr. Smith has successfully represented his firm's clients, both plaintiffs and defendants, in litigation before a variety of courts, both state and federal, particularly in Louisiana and Mississippi, but throughout the United States. Mr. Smith's litigation practice is broad, with a special emphasis on business and commercial litigation, takings/eminent domain litigation, and white collar criminal defense. Having obtained many successful judgments, as well as successfully defended against many claims, Mr. Smith has earned his reputation as an assertive, creative, and focused trial counsel.
In addition to his practice, Mr. Smith has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at Loyola University's School of Law since 1989, teaching a course on business litigation/white-collar crime every year, in addition to lecturing at many seminars locally and nationally, particularly in the eminent domain area. Among other civic duties, he was the President of the Canal Street Development Corporation, a public benefit corporation dedicated to the revitalization of Canal Street.
In 2008, Mr. Smith was named as one of the top 50 attorneys in New Orleans by New Orleans CityBusiness magazine. In 2011, Mr. Smith was selected as the sole Louisiana member of the Owner's Counsel of America (www.ownerscounsel.com), a national association of experienced property rights and eminent domain attorneys.
Mr. Smith has also been selected numerous times as one of the Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers, and other legal-rating organizations, including having been rated AV, the highest possible rating by Martindale-Hubbell, throughout his tenure at the firm.
Practice Areas
- Business Litigation
- Takings/Eminent Domain Litigation
- Civil Litigation
- Commercial Litigation
- Securities Litigation
- Property Litigation
- Intellectual Property
- Estate Litigation
- Employment Litigation
- Community Property Litigation
- Maritime Litigation
- Catastrophic Injury Litigation
- Professional Liability Litigation
- White Collar Criminal Defense
1983, Louisiana, U.S. District Court, Eastern, Western and Middle Districts of Louisiana and U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit; 1990, U.S. Supreme Court
Law School
Yale University, J.D., 1982.
College
Amherst College, B.A., 1978,
(Phi Beta Kappa, 1977).
Member
American Bar Association
Federal Bar Association
Fifth Circuit Bar Assocation
Louisiana Bar Foundation
Louisiana Bar Association
New Orleans Bar Association
AV Rated, Martindale-Hubbell
Languages
French.
Born
New York, N.Y., January 18, 1956.
rasmith@smithfawer.com