Michael Smith is a partner in King & Spalding’s Business Litigation Practice Group, focusing on securities and shareholder litigation.  Mr. Smith joined King & Spalding in 1983 and has been a partner of the firm since 1990.  He served as a member of the firm’s Policy Committee from 2007 - 2009.

Mr. Smith has litigation experience in a wide range of securities and shareholder litigation matters, including securities fraud class action litigation, shareholder derivative actions, audit committee and other independent committee investigations, SEC enforcement actions, partnership disputes, proxy contests and corporate takeover litigation, and other related business tort litigation.  He has appeared in courts throughout the southeastern United States, and in New York, Delaware, California, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Illinois, Minnesota and Texas.  Representative matters in which Mr. Smith has appeared over the last few years include the following:

• Defense of The Home Depot, Inc. and its directors and officers in various 10b-5 securities class actions and shareholder derivative suits arising out of return-to-vender credit issues, executive compensation, and stock options.  Grant of motion to dismiss 10b-5 securities class action affirmed by the 11th Circuit in 2008. 
  
  
• Defense of former directors and officers of NetBank, Inc. in separate shareholder and depositor class actions alleging fraud, breach of fiduciary duties, and/or violations of securities laws in connection with the failure of NetBank in 2007.  Won motion to dismiss depositor action in 2008.
  
  
• Defense of Force Protection, Inc. and its directors and officers in various 10b-5 securities class actions and shareholder derivative suits arising out of Force Protection’s 2008 financial statement restatement.
  
  
• Advising special board committee of publicly held financial institution regarding internal investigation and response to shareholder demand letter arising out of subprime financial crisis.
  
  
• Defense of American Tower Corporation and its directors and officers in various 10b-5 securities class actions and shareholder derivative suits arising out of a restatement related to stock options accounting.
  
  
• Defense of ChoicePoint Inc. in securities class action litigation, shareholder derivative litigation, and an SEC investigation arising out of fraudulent access to private consumer data in California by an identity theft ring.  Won motion to dismiss the derivative suit against ChoicePoint’s board, which was affirmed on appeal by the Georgia Court of Appeals.

Mr. Smith is a frequent speaker and writer on securities litigation topics.  His recent speaking engagements and publications in this area have included:

• “Director Liability Case Study:  Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Merger,”  Lead Director Network, March 2010. 
  
  
• “Recent Trends in Director Liability,” Southeast Audit Committee Network, January 2010.
  
  
•  “Loss Causation Challenges in Securities Cases,” Securities Litigation 360, October 2009
  
  
• “Recent Developments in Loss Causation and Pleading Scienter,”  Institute of Continuing Legal Education, October 2009
  
  
• “Securities Litigation Arising Out Of The Current Financial Crisis,”  27th Annual Federal Securities Institute, February 2009.
  
  
•  “The Subprime Crisis and Securities Class Action Litigation Against Financial Institutions,” by Michael Smith and Ben Lee, Securities Litigation 360, October 2008.

Mr. Smith obtained his law degree, cum laude, in 1983 from Harvard Law School.