David W. Smith

David Smith has spent the majority of his career specializing in the shipping and transportation industry, providing corporate guidance as well as custom contract drafting and negotiation to clients at all levels of the supply chain including forwarders, brokers, logistics companies, carriers by land, sea, or air, and final mile delivery companies.  

In addition to these services as general counsel, David maintains a very active litigation practice in federal and state courts defending cargo loss and damage claims, independent contractor classification matters, and general commercial litigation.  He has had the opportunity to handle multiple federal appeals on issues ranging from broker liability for cargo loss and damage, claim filing requirements, procedural standards affecting burdens for limitations of liability, and the application of the Montreal Protocol to different portions of intermodal routing.

With the knowledge and experience forged via his extensive litigation and appellate practice, David aims his contract drafting and negotiation to eliminate or limit practical, real-world risks that he has recently confronted.  By reverse engineering contracts for his clients from this litigation perspective he effectively sets the legal background to create predictable outcomes.