Partner

Arnold & Porter

 

In October 1996, Smith rejoined the firm after serving as general counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency from May 1995 to September 1996.  In May 1993, Secretary of Defense William Perry appointed Smith to the congressionally mandated Commission to Review the Roles and Missions of the Armed Services. Previously, he chaired the Joint Security Commission established by Secretary of Defense Les Aspin and Director of Central Intelligence Robert James Woolsey to review security policy and practices in the defense and intelligence communities. In late 1992 and early 1993, he served as the chief of the Clinton transition team at the Department of Defense.

 

Prior to joining Arnold & Porter, Smith served as the general counsel of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He was also Senator Sam Nunn's designee to the Iran/Contra Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Before working for the Senate, Smith was an assistant legal adviser at the Department of State.  Earlier, as an Army judge advocate general officer, he served as the Pentagon's lawyer for the Panama Canal negotiations.

 

A 1966 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and a 1971 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, Smith was appointed by President Clinton in 1993 to the Board of Visitors of the Military Academy. He is a member of the Committee of Visitors of the University of Michigan Law School. He is also a member of the boards of trustees of Aerospace Corporation and the Henry L. Stimson Center, the board of directors of The Education for Employment Foundation and serves as general counsel of the Goldwater Foundation. He has lectured and written on national security and international law, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.