NICHOLAS D. SMITH
NICHOLAS D. SMITH
Nicholas D. Smith is a partner based in New York City. His practice focuses on federal criminal defense, appeals, compassionate release and First Step Act relief.
Prior to joining the firm, he was an associate at a prominent litigation firm in New York, and clerked for the Honorable T. Rawls Jones, Jr. in the Eastern District of Virginia, and the Honorable Joanna Seybert in the Eastern District of New York. He is a member of the ABA White Collar Crime Committee.
Nicholas has broad experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants across the spectrum of civil practice areas, including securities claims, breach of fiduciary duty, and class actions. On the criminal side, he has represented clients facing a variety of federal charges including bribery, kickbacks, money laundering, terrorism, unlicensed money transmitting, and computer crimes. Nicholas has international experience, having represented clients from Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
Notable representations:
- Representing the spouse of a former ambassador to the U.S. in connection with civil liability stemming from alleged bribery and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act;
- Representing the former head of an Eastern European country in a long-running civil forfeiture case stemming from alleged bribery and money laundering;
- Represented the Republic of Poland in a repatriation case concerning a rare World War 2-era artifact; was awarded honorary medal by Poland for successfully resolving dispute;
- Represented sovereign wealth fund against private equity fund in an international arbitration involving fraud, breach of contract, and breach of fiduciary duty claims;
- Represented founder and CEO of medical device company against criminal bribery and kickback charges;
- Represented foreign national charged with overseeing international computer hacking conspiracy, in one of the first U.S. federal prosecutions of its kind;
- Represented several hedge funds in pursuing claims for the repurchase of mortgages worth billions of dollars due to breaches of representations and warranties;
- Represented law firm against class action asserting civil RICO and other claims.
EDUCATION
- Fordham Law School, J.D. 2009, magna cum laude
- New York University, B.A. 2006, cum laude
BAR ADMISSIONS
- New York
- Virginia
- District of Columbia
- U.S. District Court Southern District of New York
REPRESENTATIVE CASES
The results in the following representative cases depend upon a variety of factors which are unique to each case. A positive result in one case neither guarantees nor predicts a similar result in any future case.
- United States v. Fischer, 64 F.4th 329 (D.C. Cir. 2023)
- United States v. All Assets Held at Bank Julius, Baer & Co., 480 F. Supp. 3d 1 (D.D.C. 2020)
- United States v. Young, 916 F.3d 368 (4th Cir. 2019)
- United States v. All Assets Held at Bank Julius, Baer & Co., 308 F. Supp. 3d 186 (D.D.C. 2018)
- United States v. $215,587.22 in United States Currency, 306 F. Supp. 3d 213 (2018)
- United States v. $215,587.22 in United States Currency, 282 F. Supp. 3d 109 (D.D.C. 2017)
- United States v. Young, 260 F. Supp. 3d 530 (E.D. Va. 2017)
- United States v. All Assets Held at Bank Julius, Baer & Co., 270 F. Supp. 3d 220 (D.D.C. 2017)
- United States v. All Assets Held at Bank Julius, Baer & Co., 268 F. Supp. 3d 135 (D.D.C. 2017)