NEWS ARTICLES

Daily Press
October 13, 1997

HIGH PROFILE: STEPHEN SMITH
LAWYER USES MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE TO WIN BIG

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When people walk into Smith's modest office, they first encounter a huge wooden work station that takes up most of the room. Then they see a life-sized skeleton Smith uses during a trial. It stands off to one side, staring out the lone picture window, while an anatomically correct brain perches nearby on the window sill. Smith uses the brain to show jurors what happens when someone suffers a brain injury. ``One reason I think I'm successful is that I understand my role,'' he said. ``I provide the jury and the court with information and allow the experts to teach the jury.''
     Although millions of dollars have passed through Smith's firm, Smith and his partners have kept things traditional. The one-story building on Kecoughtan Road, which houses the three lawyers and a 30-member support staff, has changed little from when Joseph Smith first moved there in 1967. ``I think other lawyers are jealous of us because of our success,'' Smith said. ``But the difference between our firm and other trial lawyers and general lawyers is that we're surgeons of the legal profession. We prepare for our cases like doctors preparing for surgery.''
     Smith won't talk about how much he makes and he shies away from questions asking if he is a millionaire. All he admits is that he and the firm are successful and that the firm ``has the financial wherewithal to take on any defendant, corporation, hospital or any manufacturer.'' ``I have all the accoutrements and they're symbols of success, and I guess it's important to know a lawyer is successful,'' he said. Smith drives a Mercedes SL500 convertible and a Chevrolet Blazer, sports a Rolex and wears Armani suits to court. At his office, however, one can find him working in blue jeans and a comfortable shirt, or he may even have on a pair of shorts.
     ``I've never been accused of being pretentious, and for every dollar I make, my clients make two and sometimes even more,'' Smith said. ``As much as I spend on myself and my family, we're charitable because I believe in the old adage, `There but for fortune go you and I.' '' Smith, like most lawyers, takes 33 percent of every settlement, but the money is shared with the firm. The percentage, he said, is a standard fee in the legal profession, and is collected on a contingency basis. ``What's wonderful about that,'' Smith said, ``is that it allows the poorest person or the person of the most meager circumstances to retain some of the finest experts in their field. If we charged an hourly basis, that would be economically unreachable for them.''
     Regardless of the amount of money, Smith said, he likes a challenge. In June, just six days after Christine's settlement, Smith slapped City Councilman Aubrey Fitzgerald with a $2 million libel suit. The suit was filed on behalf of Mike Hazlewood, the legislative aide to Del. Phil Hamilton, R-Newport News, who claims Fitzgerald libeled him in a letter he sent to his boss. Fights like this get Smith's adrenaline pumping.
     He said he goes after city governments and city officials because of their arrogance. He also claims no other law firm has pursued the City of Newport News as ``vigorously or relentlessly'' as his. ``We've been fighting them on things for 20 years,'' Smith said. ``But it's not just this city, it's any city because cities believe their interest is higher than any other interest, and that they can do to people whatever they wish when they wish. I disagree.'' Newport News City Attorney Stuart Katz could not be reached for comment about the city's legal wranglings with Smith. But Smith said his firm and the city are ``peacefully co-existing.'' ``At least until the next time,'' he said. ``My assumption is that just like in any war, you fight until you win or lose or until peace breaks out.''
     Smith said he often takes on causes, not cases, and doesn't care if he gets compensated or not. ``Money,'' he said, ``doesn't drive me.'' Being successful comes from just being a decent human being, Smith said. ``That's the way Joseph Smith started his law firm, and that's the way he raised his children,'' he said. ``If I do what I'm supposed to do, then the clients will get what's rightfully coming to them, and the firm will get paid.''His father wanted him to be a doctor, but Stephen Smith chose instead to become a lawyer. He has been practicing personal injury law for more than 20 years, fighting passionately for his clients and often winning them millions of dollars. ``I wanted to emulate my father,'' Smith said. ``He was very courageous and very brilliant, and he never fit the mold.''

AGE: 49
OCCUPATION: Trial lawyer specializing in brain injury law and traumatic personal injury litigation
FIRM: Joseph Smith Ltd., Attorneys for the Injured, Smith Building, 2100 Kecoughtan Road, Hampton. Partners: Brother, Howard Smith, and brother-in-law, Stephen Pitler
EDUCATION: Graduated from Newport News High School. Graduated in 1971 from the College of William & Mary with a degree in psychology. Earned his law degree from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law in 1974.
CAREER ACHIEVEMENTS: Included in the 1997-98 edition of The Best Trial Lawyers in America.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS*: Virginia Trial Lawyers Association - Vice Chairman, Neurolaw Committee; Association of Trial Lawyers of America - Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group; National Brain Injury Association; Virginia Brain Injury Association; Million Dollar Advocates Forum
FAMILY: Lives in the Princess Anne Hills section of Virginia Beach. Married to the former Dawn Williams in 1978. The couple have two sons, Ryan, 16, and Miles, 13.

*This is sampling of the many legal organizations of which Smith is a member.

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Attorneys:
Joeseph Smith • Howard P. Smith • Stephen H. Pitler • Stephen M. Smith • J. F. Hoen