Turner P. Smith
tsmith@curtis.com
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New York Office
His representations usually concern complex commercial matters in the securities, tax and technology areas. A substantial number of clients are foreign-based persons and entities engaged in disputes touching a number of U.S. and foreign jurisdictions. Mr. Smith has also counseled a variety of persons and companies in federal and state grand jury proceedings and in investigations initiated by the SEC.
In the area of international law, Mr. Smith has extensive experience in all aspects of transnational litigation, including letters rogatory inquests in the Swiss, U.K. and French courts, requests for international judicial assistance under 28 U.S.C. 1782, arbitrations under the rules of the International Chamber of Commerce, and the coordination of parallel proceedings in a variety of foreign jurisdictions.
Mr. Smith is admitted to practice before the courts of the States of New York and Massachusetts, the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the U.S. Tax Court and the District of Massachusetts. Mr. Smith clerked for the Hon. W. Arthur Garrity, Jr. of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Prior to joining Curtis, Mr. Smith was an associate with Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York. From 1978-1979, Mr. Smith served as Editor-in-Chief of Law and Policy in International Business.
Recent Representative Matters
- Representation of cross-border financial services company in the U.S. Tax Court -- first reported decision on rules for “U.S. trade or business” since WW II.
- Representation of Texas investment advisory and broker-dealer firms in defense of claimed acts of fraud arising out of the termination and flight of the chairman and CEO of AeroMexico.
- Representation of Latinvest Securities, Inc. in a variety of NASD arbitration proceedings.
- Representation of Materials Research Corporation, a division of Sony Electronics, Inc., in an intellectual property dispute in the semiconductor industry.
- Representation of a Boston-based venture capital firm in a series of litigations relating to a collapsed “wireless” cable business.
- Representation of a Brazilian retailer/importer in various disputes with multinational wholesalers.
- Mr. Smith’s extensive travel and human rights research in North Africa has resulted in various publications on the politicization of Islam and Islamic justice systems.
Associations
- Association of the Bar of the City of New York
- Member, Council on International Affairs 1994-1997
- Massachusetts Bar Association
- Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights
Education
- J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, 1979
- Law & Policy in International Business, Editor-in-Chief
- B.A., Yale University, 1975
