Richard Smith is a partner in Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.’s Washington D.C. office where he focuses on litigation.  He is also the chair of the firm's White Collar Crime and Government Investigations practice group and co-chair of the firm's Subprime practice group.

At his previous firm, Richard was the chair of their Litigation Group in the Washington DC office and co-chair of the White Collar, Parallel Proceedings and Corporate Advisory Practice Group. He has extensive experience in representing corporate entities, their executives and employees in connection with grand jury investigations, white collar crime criminal prosecutions and criminal antitrust investigations and prosecutions.  He also has experience representing business entities and executives in such civil matters as breach of contracts, tortious interference of business relationships, business conspiracy, fraud, criminal conversion and forum non conveniens. 

Richard was the former Acting Chief and Principal Deputy Chief for Litigation of the Fraud Section of the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division where he supervised the litigation activities of all trial attorneys in the investigation, indictment, and trial of criminal matters involving violations of conspiracy, wire and mail fraud, bank fraud, securities fraud, false books and records, obstruction of justice, money laundering, FCPA, and RICO statutes among others and has 20 years of trial experience, handling over 100 criminal and civil cases in state and federal courts throughout the U.S. 

While at the DOJ, Richard tried the first cases prosecuted under the Sarbanes-Oxley statute and was instrumental in executing a new strategy to quickly investigate and prosecute corporate fraud matters. At the DOJ, Richard was also Counsel to the Director of the Executive Office for the United States Attorneys where he served as the attorney-advisor to the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee and he represented the interests of U.S. Attorneys. For five years in a row, Richard received recognition for his work at the DOJ with the “Special Achievement Award.”

He previously worked for six years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Texas, where he conducted long term grand jury investigations, prosecuted and tried numerous complex white collar and public corruption cases, and successfully argued four cases before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. He started his career trying criminal cases as an Assistant State Attorney in Jacksonville.

• Edward Bennett Williams Inn of Court (2002 - present) 
• University of Florida College of Law Prosecutor/Public Defender Trial Training Program, Faculty Member (1993 - 1998)
• American Inns of Court (1993 - 1995)
• The Federal Bar Association (1993 - 1994)
• Jacksonville Bar Association, member - Professionalism committee (1991 - 1992)
• D.W. Perkins Bar Association, President (1992)

• “Outstanding Service and Leadership Award,” The Attorney General's Advisory Committee of The United States Attorneys (2001)
• “Arthur S. Fleming Award,” George Washington University, for outstanding federal employees (1999)
• "Director's Award for Superior Performance,” U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office for The United States Attorneys (1998)
• Award for outstanding prospective skills and the assistance provided to the FBI in the Starr County, Texas Public Corruption Investigation of Sheriff Eugenio "Gene" Falcon, U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (1998)
• Special Commendation for the successful prosecution of Operation Mr. Clean, U.S. Attorneys Office, Southern District of Texas (1998)
• “Outstanding Professional Counsel and Prosecution,” Eduardo Payan Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General (1997)
• “Certificate of Service and Academic Achievement,” Florida Bar Foundation Public Service Law Fellow, University of Florida College of Law and the Center for Governmental Responsibility (1986 - 1987)

• “Parallel Proceedings Put Certain Rights at Risk,” The National Law Journal, July 24, 2006
• Co-Author, “You Do Not Have the Right to Remain Silent-The Government's Ability to Compel Testimony from Record Custodians Regarding Subpoenaed Documents,” American Bar Association White Collar Crime Manual, 2003

• "The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Five Years Later:  Assessing Its Impact, Charting Its Future," University of Maryland School of Law, Baltimore, Maryland, October 2007
• “Men in Black Handling Government Investigations and Second Requests,” Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Web Seminar, September 2007
• “Compliance Challenges:  The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,” Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. and Trace International Breakfast Seminar, Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 2007
• “Beyond Mentoring - Ensuring and Cultivating Attorney Development,” 4th National Forum on Law Firm Diversity, New York, New York, March 2007
• “Overcoming Adversity within Diversity - Success,” 4th National Forum on Law Firm Diversity, New York, New York, March 2007
• “A Searching Inquiry into Failures of Corporate Ethics: WorldCom, Tyco and HealthSouth,” Medtronic Business and Law Roundtable, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota, November 2006
• “Trying Complex Securities Fraud Cases: Lessons From the Courtroom,” ABA National Institute on Securities Fraud, Washington, D.C., September 2006
• “Legal Audits: A key Component of Compliance Programs,” Minority Corporate Counsel Association 5th Annual CLE Expo, Chicago, Illinois, March 2006

2000 - LL.M., Health Law, University of Houston Law Center
1987 - J.D., University of Florida College of Law
1984 - M.A., Political Science, University of Florida
1983 - B.A., Political Science, Alabama A&M University

Richard is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia, Florida, before the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida,  District of Columbia, Maryland and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.