David B. Smith
Education
Mr. Smith is a 1976 graduate of the Yale Law School. He received his B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania in 1970, and was a graduate student at Pembroke College, Oxford, from 1970 to 1972.
U.S. Department of Justice — Former Criminal Prosecutor
For eight years prior to entering private practice, Mr. Smith was a prosecutor in the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice and at the United States Attorney's Office in Alexandria, Virginia. At Justice, he served in the Appellate and Narcotics Sections of the Criminal Division, and as the first Deputy Chief of the Asset Forfeiture Office where he was responsible for supervising all forfeiture litigation in the United States. At the United States Attorney's Office, he was involved in several complex white collar criminal investigations, trials, and appeals involving defense procurement fraud, false claims, congressional bribery, mail fraud, tax evasion, theft of government property, espionage, false statements, and perjury. His government experience was broadly varied. In 1995-1996, he served as a part-time Associate Independent Counsel in the investigation of Michael Espy, the former Secretary of Agriculture.
Private Practice — Federal Criminal Defense
In 1986, Mr. Smith began private practice in partnership with Gregory B. English, a colleague from the Department of Justice. With Mr. Smith's extensive background in forfeiture law, he participates in civil and criminal forfeiture cases all over the country and consults extensively with other lawyers in this area of law. He is a frequent lecturer on forfeiture practice before national and state bar associations.
Mr. Smith's practice includes federal criminal defense and criminal appeals. He has argued more than one hundred federal criminal appeals as a prosecutor and defense attorney, many of which were significant cases. He also has extensive experience with civil and criminal litigation in the Supreme Court of the United States.
Published Author and Recognized Expert on Forfeiture Law
Mr. Smith is the author of the leading two-volume treatise, Prosecution and Defense of Forfeiture Cases, published by Matthew Bender, and is considered the leading expert on forfeiture law in the United States. He is regularly quoted by newspaper reporters and has appeared on many national television and radio news programs. He is the co-author (with Terry Reed) of another leading treatise, Civil RICO, also published by Matthew Bender. The book covers criminal prosecutions as well as private, civil litigation under the RICO statute. Mr. Smith has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in civil RICO cases and has prosecuted and defended a number of criminal RICO cases.
Legislative Efforts and Congressional Testimony
Mr. Smith has counseled the Senate and House Judiciary Committees on forfeiture reform legislation and congressional oversight of the government's forfeiture efforts. He was heavily involved in drafting the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000, the first major reform of our civil forfeiture laws in 200 years. Mr. Smith has also worked closely with the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules and the Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules on amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil and Criminal Procedure governing civil and criminal forfeiture proceedings. In 2000-2001, Mr. Smith was appointed by Senator Richard Shelby (R. Ala.), the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, to serve as a Commissioner with the Judicial Review Commission on Foreign Asset Control. He received the NACDL President's Commendation for outstanding service in 1993, 1994 and 2004. Mr. Smith represents the NACDL at meetings of the Over-Criminalization Working Group, which brings together various organizations across the political spectrum that share an interest in criminal justice reform. The Group is chaired by former Attorney General Edwin Meese, III of the Heritage Foundation.
Mr. Smith has testified before congressional committees several times with respect to forfeiture and money laundering legislation. On April 3, 2008, Mr. Smith testified before the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security in opposition to S.973, the “Restitution for Victims of Crime Act.” The draconian pretrial asset restraint provision in the bill would have allowed the government to pauperize defendants and prevent them from retaining counsel without giving the defendant a fair opportunity to be heard on the propriety of the restraint.
Bars:
Virginia
District of Columbia
Courts:
United States Supreme Court
United States Courts of Appeals for the District of Columbia, First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Circuits
United States District Courts in Virginia and the District of Columbia
Virginia Supreme Court
Memberships:
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
(Co-Chairman, Forfeiture Committee; member, Board of Directors; Vice-Chair, Amicus Curiae Committee; member, Nominating Committee; member, DOJ Dialog Committee)
Board of Editors, The Champion
President-Elect Obama's Criminal Justice Policy Committee
Publications:
- Prosecution and Defense of Forfeiture Cases, Matthew Bender (2008).
- Civil RICO, Matthew Bender (2008).
Mr. Smith's recent wins include these published court opinions:
United States v. $500,000 in U.S. Currency, 591 F.3d 402 , 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 27641 (5th Cir. Dec. 16, 2009)
United States v. Nacchio, 573 F.3d 1062, 1087-90 (10th Cir. 2009) (adopting amicus brief's argument concerning construction of 18 U.S.C. §981(a)(2)'s definition of statutory term "proceeds" and quoting counsel's treatise)
United States v. Kalish, 2009 WL 130215 (S.D. N.Y. Jan. 13, 2009)
In re Sealed Case, 527 F.3d 188 (D.C. Cir. 2008)
United States v. Lawrence, 471 F.3d 135 (D.C. Cir. 2006)
United States v. $4,224,958.57 in U.S. Currency, 392 F.3d 1002 (9th Cir. 2004)
United States v. $293,316 in U.S. Currency, 349 F.Supp.2d 638 (E.D. N.Y. 2004)
please visit the Matthew Bender bookstore at
www.lexisnexis.com/bookstore.
Call 1-703-548-8911 to speak with attorney David B. Smith
In the Spotlight - Cases & News
- Major Victory in Sentencing CaseIn January of 2010, the Fourth Circuit decided United States v. Mark Lynn, ____ F.3d ____, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 1927 (Jan. 28, 2010), requiring the trial judge to clearly articulate how the 18 U.S.C. §3553(a) factors were applied in fashioning the sentence. The court, referencing Gall v. United States, stated that "a district court’s explanation of its sentence need not be lengthy, but the court must offer some ’individualized assessment’ justifying the sentence imposed and rejection of arguments for a higher or lower sentence based on §3553." Mr. Lynn, who was represented by other counsel at trial, had been convicted and sentenced to prison for 33 years. Mr. English handled his appeal and obtained the Fourth Circuit decision which vacated Mr. Lynn’s sentence. The court’s decision relied in part upon another case Mr. English had argued.
- Tenth Circuit Rules on Meaning of "Proceeds" in 18 U.S.C. §981(a)(2)In United States v. Nacchio, 573 F.3d 1062 (10th Cir. 2009), the court of appeals correctly construed the CAFRA’s definition of the key word "proceeds" in 18 U.S.C. §981(a)(2). This is the first circuit decision to interpret §981(a)(2)’s language. The issue arose in the long–running appeal of Joseph Nacchio, the former CEO of Qwest Communications Int’l, from his conviction on 19 counts of insider trading. The district court ordered Nacchio to forfeit $52 million. However, the court of appeals agreed with Nacchio that the district court erred in not allowing Nacchio a deduction for the "direct costs" incurred by him in his insider trading activity.
