DAVID RANDOLPH SMITH
drs@drslawfirm.com
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EDUCATION
Harvard University(B.A., cum laude, 1975; Rhodes Scholar finalist); University of Texas at Austin (J.D., with honors, 1978). Order of the Coif. Texas Law Review, 1977-1978.

EXPERIENCE
Mr. Smith has been a trial attorney for 30 years. For the past nineteen years he has represented primarily individuals in plaintiff's personal injury litigation. In 2006 he obtained a record $7.2 million verdict in a wrongful death case in Warren County, Tennesee. He served as plaintiffs' counsel in the Tri-State Crematory class action litigation against Georgia Farm Bureau ($80 million judgment) and represented class members who received $36 million in settlements.

He has been recognized by his peers as one of the Best Lawyers in Lawyers in America in Personal Injury Litigation and as one of the Best Lawyers in Tennesse by Business Tennessee, a statewide business journal, in the 2004-2011 editions. Mr. Smith was also named a Mid-South "Super Lawyer" in 2007. The Business Tennessee Best Lawyers List described Mr. Smith as "An all-star across the state." The list identified attorneys from all regions of the state and recognized Mr. Smith as one of seven "best lawyers" in Tennessee in the area of Personal Injury (Plaintiff) practice.

He has tried over 100 cases in state and federal courts throughout the nation, in Tennessee, Texas, Missouri, Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana, Mississippi, Florida, Ohio, South Carolina, Virginia, Montana, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Washington D.C.

He began in private practice with the national law firm of Baker & Botts in Houston, Texas (1978-1983). He served as an Associate Professor of Law teaching Torts, Evidence and Professional Responsibility at Vanderbilt University School of Law (1983-1988). Mr. Smith has been evaluated by his peers and received an "AV" rating by Martindale-Hubbell--the highest rating possible--indicating Very High to Preeminent Legal Ability (A) and a Very High general ethical standards ratings. (V).

Mr.Smith has served as Plaintiffs' counsel in a number of significant cases including: The Tri-State Crematory Class Action Litigation, The NHC Nursing Home Fire Litigation, the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant Litigation.

Mr. Smith testified as a legal expert on product liability law (joint and several liability) before the 100th Congress (House of Representatives) Subcommittee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Competitiveness. His testimony and paper appeared in the Congressional Record.

Mr. Smith also presented expert testimony to the landmark Presidential Commission on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Epidemic, Hearings on Discrimination, Ethics and Testing, Vanderbilt University,Nashville, TN, March 16-18, 1988. In his testimony Mr. Smith advocated federal laws to protect privacy in testing and to outlaw discrimination of persons with HIV/AIDS. Of interest, the opposing expert view was presented at this panel by then federal judge Kenneth W. Starr (later Independent Counsel on the Whitewater matter).

CERTIFICATIONS
Certified as a Civil Litigation Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education and Specialization.

Mr. Smith is also certified as a Medical Malpractice Specialist by the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys and the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education and Specialization.

Certification requires proof that the attorney is in good standing, is substantially involved in litigating and trying cases (including minimum trial day requirements), has met continuing legal education requirements and has been subjected to peer review by persons against whom they've tried cases, as well as judges before whom they've appeared.

Fewer than 1% of Tennessee's attorneys are certified as Civil Trial specialists and only 10 attorneys in the State of Tennessee are certified as Medical Malpractice Specialists.

ADMISSIONS
Texas (1978); Tennessee (1985); U.S. District Courts (Middle, Eastern Districts of Tennessee; Southern District of Texas; Western District of Michigan); Courts of Appeals (Fifth Circuit; Sixth Circuit); U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. Claims Court.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Research Scholar, Vanderbilt University Medical Center for Clinical and Research Ethics, 1986-1988. Member, Executive Committee, Vanderbilt University AIDS Project, 1987-1988. Member: Nashville, Tennessee and American (Commentator, Law and Medicine Committee, Tort and Insurance Practice Section, 1987) Bar Associations; Civil Justice Reform Act Advisory Committee. The Association of Trial Lawyers of America (Sustaining Member, Amicus Curiae Committee, 1992-1993; Consultant, Member, Constitutional Challenge Committee, 1987).

Mr. Smith has served as an expert witness on professional respsonsibility on behalf of the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility and has testified as an expert witness on tort law, insurance coverage and the standard of care in legal malpractice actions.

PRESENTATIONS

Invited Speaker, Brain Death, International Society of Law and Medicine, Sydney, Australia (October 17, 1988)

Invited Speaker, Legal and Medical Implications of Irreversible Unconscious, 8th Annual Conference of the National Legal Center for the Medically Dependent & Disabled. American Academy of Medical Ethics, Loyola University School of Law (New Orleans, LA, April 16, 1993)

Invited Speaker, Brain Death, International Symposium on the Beginning of Human Life, University of Iowa College of Medicine, sponsored by the Ford Foundation (November 6, 1990).

PUBLICATIONS

• Tennessee Bar Association General Practice Summit Seminar (Personal Injury for Small Firms) (August 25, 2007)
• PESI "Tennessee Evidence Workshop", Dec. 13, 2006
• NBI E-Discovery Seminar, Dec. 20, 2006
• "The Trial Template", TTLA Mid-Winter Convention, Feb. 1, 2006
• "Hot Tips & Trends for Tennessee Lawyers", Barristers CLE Seminar Dec. 21, 2005
• "Tennessee Evidence Workshop", PESI Dec. 13, 2005
• Electronic Briefs & E-Filing, Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association Annual Convention (Knoxville, TN, June 16, 2005).
• Superior Deposition Strategies in Tennessee Civil Trial Practice (NBI, May, 2004).
• Nursing Home Negligence (PESI, 2003).
• Use of Adobe Acrobat in Litigation (American Lawyer Media 2002) (paper presented at LegalTech conference, New York, NY, Feb. 2002).
• Automobile Accident Litigation (NBI, 2002).
• High-Tech Depositions and Electronic Trial Techniques (NCRA, 2001).
• Wrongful Death Law Overview (1998).
• Computers and technology: The Impact of Technology in Your Law Practice (NBA, 1998).
• Cross-Examination (NBA, 1997).
• Effective Use of Courtroom Visuals (PESI, 1997).
• Book Review, Comparative Fault, Trial ( March, 1997, p. 74)
• Medical Malpractice Case Law Update and Intangibles of Winning and Losing a Medical Malpractice Case, (Tenn. Bar Ass'n 1996).
• Trying The Wrongful Death Case in Tennessee: Strategies in Preparation and Valuation (N.B.I. 1996).
• Civil Litigation Practice for Paralegals (PESI, 1995).
• Evidence in Trial Practice (N.B.I., 1994).
• Trial Advocacy in Tennessee (N.B.I., 1994).
• Character Evidence, Impeachment and Hearsay, (1991) Evidence Seminar, Wisconsin Judicial Conference.
• Chapter, Fetal Rights in Assessment and Care of the Fetus: Physiological, Clinical and Medicolegal Principles (Eden, Boehm, Haire, eds.)(1990).
• Tennessee Evidence Workshop Handbook (1989), (1990).
• Medicine and Law: AIDS, Constitutional Challenges to Tort Reform and Medical Malpractice, 23 ABA Tort and Insurance Law Journal 370 (1988).
• Consciousness: The Most Critical Moral(Constitutional) Standard for Human Personhood. American Journal of Law & Medicine 1987;XIII(2-3):233-248 (with Dr. Ronald Cranford).
• Chapters VII & XV, Prosser, Keeton & Schwartz, Cases and Materials on Torts (8th edition, 1988).
• Legal Recognition of Neocortical Death, 71 Cornell Law Review 850 (1986); scanned version. Referenced as "an excellent article" in the leading Bioethics casebook used in law schools, Bioethics: Healthcare, Human Rights and the Law (2002) (Prof. Arthur LaFrance) and cited by the American Medical Association Joint Report of the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs, "Persistent Vegetative State and the Decision to Withdraw or Withhold Life Support" (JAMA. Jan. 19,1990; 263(3): 426-430). Wikipedia-David Randolph Smith-Brain Death-lawyer.
• Glory Days: A Celebrity's Right of Publicity,"16 Vanderbilt Lawyer 18 (1986).
• Battling a Receding Tort Frontier: Constitutional Attacks on Medical Malpractice Laws, 38 Oklahoma Law Review 195 (1985); reprinted in 35 Defense Law Journal 359 (1986).
• Constitutional Attacks on Medical Malpractice Laws," in Legal Liability and Quality Assurance in Newborn Screening, American Bar Foundation (1985) (with Prof. James Blumstein).
• Physician as Pareto: The Search for Optimality in Health Care, The Spire (1985).
• Baby Doe: Public Judgments or Private Choices? A Jurisdictional Approach, 16 New Perspectives 14 (1984).
• Fairness: A Comparative Analysis of the Indiana and Uniform Comparative Fault Acts,17 Indiana Law Review 969 (1984 (with Dean John Wade)
• Note, Federal Jurisdiction--Section 1983--Pendent Party Jurisdiction Not Available When Congress Has Expressly or Impliedly Refused to Extend Jurisdiction to the Pendent Party.  Aldinger v. Howard (U.S. 1976), 55 Texas Law Review 941 (1977)

REPORTED CASES
Citation List with links to Westlaw.

PRACTICE AREAS
Personal Injury, Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice, Products Liability Law; and Complex Civil Litigation.

PERSONAL INTERESTS
First and foremost my wife and three sons and their lives and activities. Running (Boston Marathon, New York City Marathon; best marathon time: 2 hours 48 minutes; best finish: 10th in Galveston marathon), yoga, gardening and cooking.