I earned my law degree from The University of Texas School of Law in 2000. After three years of representing large corporations, I knew I needed to focus on the reason I went to law school – helping hardworking families achieve a degree of justice.
Brad Smith
Of Counsel
Background & Motivation
Both of my parents were the first generation in their families to leave the farm, but the values they learned there – among them, hard work, fair play, and square deals – never left them. They passed those same values on to my brother and me as they raised us in a small East Texas town and sent us to work on my grandparents’ and cousins’ farms during the summer. Growing up in a small-town environment, it was inevitable that I crossed paths with all sorts – rich and poor, strong and frail, old and young – and I had to learn to get along with all of them. Moreover, I learned that some of these people, through no fault of their own, find themselves with problems they may not be able to overcome without help – help that I might be able to provide in some small way. I learned to help as a caring and compassionate neighbor, through church programs and also through civic organizations such as the Boy Scouts, where my brother and I both achieved the rank of Eagle Scout.
I knew early in my schooling that I needed to find a way to include the service I found so fulfilling at home in my career – so I turned my eyes to the law. After graduating from law school I spent three years representing the bankruptcy interests of corporations. This included representing Fortune 500 companies as creditors and creditor committee members in large Chapter 11 cases.
While this work was legally complex and extremely interesting, I found myself searching for a way to apply my skills and knowledge to individuals like the friends and neighbors I grew up among. Consequently, in early 2004, I went to work helping families with their asbestos-related personal injury cases with an emphasis on asbestos-related bankruptcy claims. I have further refined my practice to include investigating the myriad ways my clients may have been exposed to asbestos-containing products and the particular products to which they have been exposed.
In this capacity, I have represented many hundreds of clients with their unique claims. I have also served representing individual clients on the asbestos creditors’ committees in the Garlock Sealing Technologies, LLC.; Specialty Products Holding Corp.; and Thorpe Insulation Co. bankruptcy cases.
For over a decade, I have found the prospect to serve my clients and thereby give back to my community, very rewarding.
Education
The University of Texas School of Law, Doctor of Jurisprudence, May 2000
The University of Texas, Bachelor of Arts in English, with a minor in Spanish, May 1995
Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science at The University of North Texas, May 1992
Admissions
State Bar of Texas, 2000
United States District Court of Texas – Northern District, 2000
United States District Court of Texas – Eastern District, 2002
United States District Court of Texas – Southern District, 2007
Honors & Professional Affiliations
American Association for Justice