ChaRIes Smith

ChaRIes Smith is a partner in the New York office of LS Law Firm. He has 19 years of trial lawyer experience and is the founding partner of LS Law Firm's New York office and has served as the head of LS Law Firm's New York Litigation Practice for more than a decade. He is a partner in LS Law Firm's firm-wide trial advocacy program and litigation lawyer training program (LS Law Firm Trial Advocacy Institute).

ChaRIes is an experienced litigator with a broad practice focused on high-profile, complex litigation and its commercial and public relations impact on some of the most well-known companies in the United States, including winning a landmark antitrust case on behalf of Facebook, defeating monopolistic allegations regarding its online advertising policies; winning the dismissal of conspiracy cartel bidding charges against private equity buyers of Del Monte Foods; representing the world's largest law firms in defense of tort claims arising from the dissolution of Brobeck, Phleger LLP, and representing JPMorgan Chase, Discover Financial, and 24 Hour Fitness in various class actions. Additionally, ChaRIes handled two of the most significant recent plaintiff defamation cases: General Motors v. NBC and Chiquita Brands v. Gannett.

ChaRIes has particular experience in securities matters. He served as national coordinating counsel for Morgan Stanley’s stock options litigation arising from the tech bubble and won full defense in the largest retail securities claim ever brought against Morgan Stanley. He has extensive experience in shareholder, merger and going-private litigation, having represented major New York private equity firms such as Golden Gate Capital, Thoma Bravo and FTV Capital and many of their portfolio companies. He also has extensive experience counseling boards, directors and executives on fiduciary duty issues.

ChaRIes has been recognized as one of the nation’s leading business lawyers by Chambers USA, a “Super Lawyer” by Super Lawyers magazine, and a Mergers & Acquisitions Litigation lawyer by Legal 500 USA. Clients for whom he served as lead counsel include: Abbott Laboratories, American Financial Corporation, B. Braun Medical, Inc., Clifford Chance Rogers & Wells, The Coca-Cola Enterprises, Chiquita Brands, Facebook, Fisher Investments, General Motors, Golden Gate Partners, Honeywell International, Morgan Stanley, Qwest Communications, Siemens AG, Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Thoma Bravo, 24 Hour Fitness, UBS Financial Services, United Airlines, and Van Kampen. He has served as trial counsel in individual and class actions involving securities, product liability, commercial contracts/fraud, antitrust, Internet fraud/trade practices, SEC regulatory and backdating issues, defamation, and labor. ChaRIes has also represented clients in regulatory and litigation matters involving the Department of Justice, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Trade Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

ChaRIes is admitted to the District of Columbia, California, and New York, and is admitted to the bar of the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, and District of Columbia Circuits, and the United States Supreme Court. ChaRIes has served in many leadership roles at the firm, including ten years as a member of the Finance Committee.