Jeffrey G. Smith is Of Counsel to Wolf Haldenstein.  Mr. Smith is a senior member of the Firm’s Social Justice and Labor practice groups and is also a member of the Investor Protection and Consumer Protection practice groups. He specializes in complex class actions representing institutional investors in securities ligation matters, employees in Fair Labor Standards Act and Wage and Hour law disputes and consumers in Consumer Protection law related matters.  Mr. Smith has been at Wolf Haldenstein since 1981. He has helped recover over $2.5 billion on behalf of the Firm’s clients.

Representations

• Represented workers as lead counsel in class actions to recover unpaid overtime and improper expense deductions which resulted in over $300 million in unpaid wages and unreimbursed expenses. Workers represented included stock brokers, insurance agents and home delivery workers.
• Served as lead counsel in the first certified class action under the Federal Plant Closing law (the WARN Act) representing all clerical and professional employees of a financial services firm recovering full benefits provided under the new law.
• Served as a lead counsel in a federal class action representing individuals who were arrested and strip searched for minor offenses and awarded $11.5 million in class damages.
• Represented investors in Investment Company Act cases filed to recover losses suffered due to excessive fees and fraud in the mutual fund industry.
• Served as lead counsel in many shareholder class actions in the Delaware Chancery Court, including one of the most celebrated of corporate take-over cases which resulted in the establishment of new law and an increase of over $2 billion for stockholders.
• Represented many shareholders in cases under the federal securities laws in recovery of investment losses resulting from fraud in public traded companies.

Affiliations

Professional

Mr. Smith is rated AV Preeminent, the highest rating possible from Martindale-Hubbell®, the country’s foremost legal directory; has been annually recognized in the New York Metro Super Lawyers® listing every year since is first publication in 2006; and was deemed one of the ten best lawyers for employment and labor law by the American Institution of Legal Counsel™.

Mr. Smith is member of the Bar Associations of the City of New York and the States of New York and California as well as the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Council, and the American Association for Justice.

Mr. Smith has frequently lectured on corporate governance issues and class action recoveries to professional groups of pension and benefit fund trustees and investment advisors as well as to graduate and undergraduate business student groups.

Community
Mr. Smith is a long serving board member and Chair Emeritus of the Osborne Association, a not-for-profit that offers opportunities for individuals who have been in conflict with the law to transform their lives and seeks to reduce the harms caused by crime and incarceration.

Mr. Smith formerly served as chair of the Dutchess Community College Foundation Board, a board he served on for twelve years, and as chair of the Village of Ossining Environmental Advisory Council, a council he served on for ten years.