Grasford Smith

Grasford Smith is a Litigation Partner with Akerman, a top 100 US law firm, in its West Palm Beach office. He is admitted to practice in NY, DC, FL, and the U.S. Supreme Ct. He is listed in Best Lawyers in America and is AV Preeminent rated by Martindale-Hubbell. He received numerous other honors, including “500 Leading Lawyers in America” by Lawdragon, “500 Most Influential Executives” by Florida Trend, “Clyde Bailey Corporate Leadership Award” by the National Bar Association, “Corporate Executive of the Year” by Legacy Magazine, “Florida Super Lawyers,” “National Black Lawyers Top 100," “Top Up and Comer” by South Florida Legal Guide, “Top 40 under 40” by South Florida Business Journal, “Daily Business Review Rising Stars," “Daily Business Review Distinguished Leader,” “South Florida's Most Powerful Black Professionals in Business" by Legacy Magazine, "Nation’s 40 Best Advocates under 40" by the National Bar Association, and "Rising Star" by Florida Super Lawyers. Mr. Smith practices complex business litigation and has represented a diverse clientele, including fortune 500 companies, government agencies and elected officials, a major league baseball team and a major online travel retailer. He gained experience at a Wall Street law firm and prestigious Florida firms and worked on "bet-the-company" matters involving billions of dollars, including contract disputes, shareholder and board of director disputes, non-competition and trade secret disputes, real estate and construction defects disputes, intellectual property disputes, government enforcement actions, and Florida Bar disciplinary matters. Mr. Smith is charter member and Past President of the Epsilon Lambda chapter of Sigma Pi Phi (Boule) and life member and Assistant National General Counsel of Alpha Phi Alpha. He contributed financially to the Boule Scholars Foundation (Dubois Fellow), NYU School of Law (Weinfeld Fellow), and Florida Bar Foundation (Bar Fellow). Mr. Smith is a frequently requested speaker and authored articles in numerous publications. He was featured in the Boule Journal, New York Law Journal, New York County Lawyer, and the Daily Business Review, etc.