DAVID RANDOLPH SMITH
drs@drslawfirm.com

EDUCATION
Harvard University (B.A., cum laude, 1975); University of Texas at Austin (J.D., with honors, 1978). Order of the Coif. Member, Texas Law Review, 1977-1978.

EXPERIENCE
Mr. Smith has been a trial attorney for 25 years. For the past fifteen years he has represented primarily individuals in plaintiff's personal injury litigation. He was recently named one of the Best Lawyers in Tennesse by Business Tennessee, a statewide business journal, in the January, 2004 edition. The Business Tennessee Best Lawyers List for 2004 described Mr. Smith as "An all-star across the state." The list identified 101 attorneys from all regions of the state and recognized Mr. Smith as one of five "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. He began in private practice with the national law firm of Baker & Botts in Houston, Texas (1978-1983). He also served as an Associate Professor of Law teaching Torts, Evidence and Professional Responsibility at Vanderbilt University School of Law (1983-1988).

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.

ADMISSIONS
Texas (1978); Tennessee (1985); U.S. District Courts (Middle, Eastern Districts of Tennessee; Southern District of Texas); 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).

PUBLICATIONS

• 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)
• 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.