Mark D. Smith

Partner

Mark Smith concentrates his practice on the defense of white-collar criminal cases and government investigations. He vigorously represents businesses and individuals during all stages of criminal and other government enforcement actions. Mark strives to achieve the best possible resolution while minimizing the negative impact that adverse publicity can have on his clients. Mark also has been retained by national law firms to handle a wide range of Massachusetts-specific litigation and regulation matters as outside counsel on behalf of their clients. Mark is a former President of the Boston Bar Association, one of the oldest bar associations in America, which has over 12,000 members. Mark was appointed by the Supreme Judicial Court to the Court Management Advisory Board (CMAB) in 2018 and in 2020 began serving as the Chair. The CMAB consists of approximately a dozen members from diverse backgrounds in law, business and academia and plays a critical role in guiding and supporting the Massachusetts Trial Court in its transformation to a system grounded in managerial best practices and data driven decision-making.

Prior to entering private practice, Mark served as Deputy Chief of the Criminal Bureau in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, where he supervised over fifty prosecutors assigned to the Environmental Crimes Strike Force, Public Integrity Division, Economic Crimes Division, and the High Technology Crimes Unit. Prior to becoming Deputy Chief, Mark also served for five years as Chief of the Public Integrity Division and participated in or supervised the prosecution of more than one hundred public corruption cases. Mark has personally tried cases ranging from securities fraud to public corruption offenses. Mark also acted as a Special Assistant United States Attorney in joint federal and state criminal investigations and prosecutions.

Earlier in his career, Mark served as a public defender in New York City and tried several cases in New York State Supreme Court. He also clerked for a trial judge of that same court. Mark has served in several senior leadership positions of the Boston Bar Association, including serving as the President of the Association. Mark is named to the Massachusetts Super Lawyers® list since 2010 by the Thomson Reuters rating service, a recognition awarded to no more than 5% of lawyers in the state.

Mark is a graduate of St. Lawrence University and Suffolk University Law School. He lives in Scituate with his family.

• Represents witnesses in large complex federal and state investigations.
• Represents executives and senior managers who have been the focus of criminal white collar investigations.
• Leads internal investigations for companies and entities that are victimized by internal misconduct.
• Represents public officials accused of conflict of interest laws violations before the State Ethics Commission.
• Represents students accused of misconduct in connection with Title IX investigations conducted by colleges and universities.

• “Public Corruption and Government Prosecutions,” Panelist, Boston Bar Association (November 2016)
• “Cutting Edge Issues in Criminal Law,” Moderator, Boston Bar Association (February 2016)
• “The FCPA, Public Corruption and Government Prosecutions,” Co-Chair and Moderator, Boston Bar Association (April 2014)
• “Cutting Edge Issues in Criminal Law,” Co-Chair and Moderator, Boston Bar Association (2008-2015)
• “Representing College and College and Graduate Students,”  Panelist, Boston Bar Association (May 2013)
• “State Sentencing Issues: White Collar Crime, Lobby Conferences, Sentencing Advocacy, The Development of the Adolescent Brain,”  Panelist, Boston Bar Association (May 2013)
• “Recent Developments in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Public Corruption and Government Prosecution,” Co-Chair and Panelist (2013)
• “Public Corruption and Fraud Prosecutions,” Moderator, Boston Bar Association (February 2013)
• “The Cutting Edge,” Moderator,  Boston Bar Association (January 2008)
• “Criminal Issues in Civil Litigation,” Boston Bar Association (October 2007)
• “Representing College & Graduate Students: Disciplinary Proceedings and the Courts,” Boston Bar Association (October 2007)
• “White Collar Crime 2005—Negotiations & Trials,” Boston Bar Association (February 2005)
• “State and Federal Sentencing Update,” Moderator, Boston Bar Association (June 2004)
• “State and Federal Grand Jury Practice,” Moderator, Boston Bar Association (March 2004)
• “Avoiding the Consequences of Criminal Conviction of Corporations and Licensed Professionals,” Boston Bar Association (April 2003)
• “Criminalization of Business Practices: Successful Strategies to Avoid Indictment,” Moderator, Boston Bar Association (April 2002)

• Court Management Advisory Board
  • Chair, 2020-present
  • appointed by Supreme Judicial Court in 2018
• Boston Bar Association
  • President, 2017-2018
  • President-Elect, 2016-2017
  • Vice President, 2015-2016
  • Secretary, 2014-2015
  • Council member, 2011-present
  • Education Committee, 2006-2011 (former chair )
  • Criminal Law Section , 2004-2006 (former co-chair)
• Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
  • Committee on Juror Voir Dire, 2014-2016