100 EAST PRATT STREET
SUITE 2440
BALTIMORE,
MD
21202-1031
410.949.1145
410.659.0436 fax
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With more than two decades experience as a trial lawyer, Cy Smith has represented plaintiffs and defendants in complex securities, class action, sports law, products liability, professional malpractice, and business tort cases. His wide variety of plaintiffs’ cases includes medical, legal, and accounting malpractice claims; shareholder derivative suits and securities matters; and defamation claims, resulting in multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements. He has also represented defendants in a similar range of complex civil litigation matters.
No stranger to the challenges of high-stakes—and high-profile—cases, Mr. Smith represented the son of real estate mogul and corporate raider Victor Posner in a multimillion-dollar settlement in one of the largest will contests in history. More recently, Mr. Smith represented an accountant in the Manila office of a global construction firm, who was kidnapped and tortured after the employer refused either to pay his ransom or permit his family to do so.
Mr. Smith was recently in the spotlight when he helped the family of the late football great Mike Webster win a multimillion-dollar judgment in retroactive benefits and other relief from the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan. The case was the first-ever win against the NFL pension plans, and paved the way for public, media, and federal legislative scrutiny of the benefits available to retired players. Mr. Smith testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee and has appeared on HBO and ESPN to discuss the NFL’s pension plan.
Mr. Smith has also represented clients who are witnesses, targets, and defendants in federal investigations and administrative proceedings concerning insider trading, money laundering, false statements to the government, insurance fraud, and other matters. And he has tried to verdict a number of multi-month criminal cases in several federal courts.
Mr. Smith has authored articles on an array of subjects ranging from bankruptcy to land use to consumer product safety and has spoken on litigation topics as varied as death penalty practice and the Federal Tort Claims Act.
Experience
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Represented a class of nursing home residents challenging Maryland’s refusal to provide deductions for Medicaid recipients’ pre-eligibility medical expenses for long-term care. The settlement—one of the two largest settlements or judgments ever against the State of Maryland—will pay up to $16 million for the benefit of the class and bring the state into compliance with federal law. E. Smith v. John Colmers, et al. (Circ. Ct. Balt. City).
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Represented the estate of ex-Steelers great Mike Webster, who suffered brain damage as a result of multiple concussions, in the first-ever successful lawsuit against the National Football League’s pension plans. (Continuing representation of additional NFL players.)
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Represented an accountant who was kidnapped, tortured, and held for ransom in the Philippines; his employer had refused both to pay the ransom demanded and to tell his family so that they could secure his release. Khan v. Parsons Global Svcs. Ltd., 521 F.3d 421 (D.C. Cir. 2008); Khan v. Parsons Global Svcs. Ltd., 428 F.3d 1079 (D.C. Cir. 2005)
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Counsel for the shareholder plaintiff in a case against the directors, senior officers, and accountants of a bank, resulting in a $10 million-plus settlement because of the bank's enormous losses from unsecured loans to an unscrupulous mobile-home retailer.
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Represented plaintiffs who won enforcement of a highly favorable pension plan amendment, defeating claims that it was the product of a federal labor racketeering conspiracy and resulting in one of the largest ERISA judgments ever in the 4th Circuit. Howard E. Johannssen, et al. v. District No. 1—Pacific Coast District, MEBA Pension Plan, 292 F.3d 159 (4th Cir. 2002).
EDUCATION
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University of Virginia School of Law,
J.D.,
1986, Robert E. Goldstein Award
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Dartmouth College,
B.A.,
1981, Sigurd Larmon Scholar, Rufus Choate Scholar, Longwood Cup, Brooks Cup, Chase Peace Prize
COURT ADMISSIONS
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit
- U.S. District Court, District of Maryland
- U.S. District Court, District of Columbia
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Virginia
BAR ADMISSIONS
- Maryland
- District of Columbia
MEMBERSHIPS
- Member of Board of Governors (and President, 2006-07), Federal Bar Association, Maryland Chapter
- Member (and Chairman, 2003-04), Lawyers’ Campaign for the College Bound Foundation
- Member, Criminal Justice Act Panel, U.S. District Court, District of Maryland
- Vice Chair, Board of Directors, Baltimore Urban Debate League
- First Vice President and Member, Board of Trustees, Beth Am Synagogue
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PRACTICES
Related Information
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