Jeffrey D. Smith

Jeffrey Smith is an Equity Partner at DeCotiis. He is a member of the Executive Committee and Co-Chair of the Litigation Department. He joined the firm as a partner in 1998. He is also a member of the White Collar Litigation and Corporate Investigations practice group.

Mr. Smith concentrates his practice in White Collar and Corporate Investigations and Complex Litigation. He has wide trial and appellate experience with emphasis on the defense of federal and state criminal and regulatory cases and related civil litigation. Mr. Smith has defended corporate and individual clients in a broad cross-section of industries in investigations conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and state Attorneys General. Mr. Smith also represents clients in complex civil litigation involving allegations of fraud, breach of contract, breaches of fiduciary duty, racketeering, violations of the federal False Claims Act and redevelopment litigation.

Prior to joining the firm in 1998, Mr. Smith was an Assistant United States Attorney for the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey from 1988 until 1998. He served in a number of roles, including the Civil Division and the Special Prosecutions Division, where he focused on the prosecution of public corruption cases. Mr. Smith was twice the recipient of the Justice Department’s Director’s Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant United States Attorney, in 1996 and 1997. Mr. Smith was designated a New Jersey Super Lawyer in 2005, and 2007-2021. [“Super Lawyers” are selected based on peer reviews and Super Lawyers Staff research. See https://www.superlawyers.com/about/selection_process.html. No aspect of Super Lawyers’ advertising or designation has been approved by the New Jersey Supreme Court.]

Mr. Smith is a member of the American Bar Association, a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and was a long-time Trustee for the Association of the Federal Bar of the State of New Jersey. Mr. Smith has served on the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Expedited Civil Actions and Ad Hoc Committee for Attorney Malpractice. Mr. Smith was the President of the C. Willard Heckel Inn of Court at Rutgers School of Law-Newark from 2017-2019, has been an Executive Board member and Master since 2011, and is now a member of the Inn’s Advisory Board.

He has lectured and served as an instructor in a variety of forums. Mr. Smith taught in the U.S. Justice Department’s trial advocacy program and represented the Justice Department at a conference in Kiev, Ukraine regarding governmental and political corruption. Mr. Smith has participated as a faculty member in a number of panels addressing white collar crime, the federal False Claims Act, internal investigations, redevelopment litigation and other issues.

Representative matters:
Representation of pharmaceutical company executives in U.S. Department of Justice antitrust investigations.

Representation of pharmaceutical company executives in investigations concerning alleged off-label sales and marketing practices.
Representation of numerous senior mortgage industry executives (CEO, Chief Operating Officer, Senior VP and Chief marketing officer) in mortgage and wire fraud prosecutions and investigations.

Representation of labor unions and officials in connection with federal grand jury investigations and related internal investigations.

Representation of medical device company executives in investigation concerning alleged fraud and anti-kickback violations.

Representation of ratings analyst in insider trading investigation and related SEC investigation and litigation.

Representation of international brownsfield redevelopment company and national real estate development companies in civil litigations concerning redevelopment, contract, and constitutional takings issues.

Representation of telecommunications company in an internal investigation concerning allegations of accounting fraud.

Mr. Smith received his B.A. magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame. As an undergraduate he was a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon, the National Economics Honor Society.

He was awarded his J.D. from the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania. He has been a New Jersey resident for 25 years.