Julie A. Smith

Julie Smith has over thirty years experience in litigation and government investigations, in government and in the private and nonprofit sectors. Many of Ms. Smith’s matters have involved the SEC, as client or adversary, as well as the Department of Justice, state attorney generals, the PCAOB, and FINRA. She previously served as Vice President at the Cause of Action Institute, where she directed strategic litigation against federal government overreach, appeared on national television as a public spokesperson, and argued in two U.S. Courts of Appeals.

Ms. Smith has represented numerous public companies, boards, individuals, and SEC-regulated entities, including investment advisers and broker-dealers, in civil and criminal investigations, internal investigations, and litigation in state and federal courts. In her years as counsel and partner at two national law firms, Ms. Smith defended clients in fraud investigations relating to Foreign Corrupt Practices Act compliance, revenue recognition, stock option backdating, and audit standards. She represented a national media company in a major SEC accounting investigation, leading to civil settlement of accounting fraud charges, and achieved a non-prosecution result for a former senior executive of a public company prosecuted for criminal fraud in the Eastern District of New York.

Ms. Smith is an accomplished litigator and trial lawyer in securities cases. She represented a former Big 4 audit partner in administrative litigation brought by the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, which resulted in a dismissal after trial. She represented the former CFO of a major bank in litigation brought by the SEC, which resulted in a dismissal of all claims on summary judgment on the eve of trial. She successfully represented the former CFO of a public company in an administrative trial against the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. Ms. Smith has represented numerous individual clients in securities-related litigation.

Ms. Smith began her career as a commercial litigator at one of Los Angeles’s premier law firms. She also served as a Senior Counsel at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement, and in the SEC’s Office of General Counsel.

Ms. Smith earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School, cum laude, in 1988, where she was a member of the Harvard Law Review. She received a B.A. in English and Economics, magna cum laude, from Trinity University in 1985. She clerked for the Hon. Mary M. Schroeder on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Ms. Smith is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia, Virginia, and California. She has been admitted to practice before multiple federal district courts as well as the D.C., First, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Selected Publications:
• “To Catch a Thief,” The Deal Magazine (October 19, 2009)
• “SEC Examinations and Enforcement in the Post-Madoff Era,” Securities Litigation Report (with Gregory S. Bruch) (October 2009)