RICHARD SMITH is a distinguished commercial litigator and first-chair trial lawyer who, in his 25 years of practice, has represented some of the most recognizable companies and individuals in the world in high-stakes, and often high-profile litigations, spanning a broad range of industries and substantive legal areas. As a former award-winning journalist and public relations professional, Richard is valued for his ability to manage multidimensional crises, master complex factual scenarios, and focus on core business needs, while navigating legal challenges to successful outcomes. His complex litigation practice spans high-value environmental, antitrust, construction, sports, political, healthcare, intellectual property, product liability, First Amendment, and business torts.
Among other high-profile litigation matters, Richard defended a secondary lead smelter in mass tort litigation that followed publication of a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative series, a pharmaceutical company against multibillion-dollar antitrust bundling claims, and a Fortune Global 50 company in one of the largest criminal price-fixing cases in history. He participated in the Florida recount litigation in the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election, the constitutional challenge to the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, and the successful defense of a Florida man accused of committing first-degree felony murder.
A multiyear “Litigation Star” by Benchmark Litigation (2023–2025) and a “BTI Client Service All-Star” (2014), Richard has represented a domestic contractor in a series of oil pipeline construction disputes over multiple sites; an international contractor in a multi-jurisdictional construction dispute arising out of a government contract; a New York entertainment property in an engineering and design defect suit; a Fortune 10 retailer in connection with a wide range of litigation and regulatory issues; all of the national Republican political party committees in defamation or First Amendment litigation; a professional sports league in intellectual property and personal injury litigation; a number of major pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporations in products liability litigation; and various clients in antitrust litigation.