Randall A. Smith - a New Orleans, United States Civil Litigation Lawyer

New Orleans Civil Litigation Lawyer

Updated: 02/28/2026

Areas of Practice

Civil Litigation
Commercial Litigation
Business Litigation
Securities Litigation
Telecommunications Litigation
Property Litigation
Estate Litigation
Community Property
Family Law
Maritime Litigation
Catastrophic Injury
White Collar Criminal Defense
Professional Liability

Litigation: 90%

Attorney Information

Overview

Randall A. Smith is the founder of Smith & Fawer, LLC and has served from the beginning as managing partner after burnishing a reputation early on as a tenacious, creative and focused trial counsel.

His determination in life and work is a gift from his parents and extends to a myriad of civic commitments and also as a teacher, serving as a respected adjunct professor of law at Loyola University’s School of Law for more than 30 years.

His legal achievements early in his career inspired Mr. Smith to launch Smith & Fawer – teaming with renowned criminal defense attorney Mike Fawer – with the vision of providing excellent trial counsel for both plaintiffs and defendants involved in particularly complex cases.

Mr. Smith’s focus and leadership has guided the boutique firm into one with an earned local, regional and national reputation as a successful litigation firm unafraid to take cases to trial. Opponents clearly understand the preparation, experience and resoluteness in the fight ahead when facing Smith & Fawer. The firm long ago adopted the axiom, “We hold nothing back.”

Mr. Smith’s own litigation experience is extensive and broad, with special emphasis and interest in all areas of business and commercial litigation, takings/eminent domain disputes, and white-collar criminal defense.

As managing partner, Mr. Smith actively leads his likewise assertive, creative and focused team of exceptional trial attorneys in developing successful outcomes in complicated disputes covering a wide array of legal complexities.

Mr. Smith himself was born in New York and raised in Geneva, Switzerland and Washington D.C. His father, Robert S. Smith was a lifelong American diplomat who, among his history of distinguished service, served on the U.S. National Security Council and as U.S. Ambassador to The Ivory Coast. His mother, Sally L. Smith, became a self-made pioneer in the field of learning disabilities after discovering her youngest son was afflicted and then finding a clear lack of services for him and similar children. She would go on to found The Lab School in Washington D.C., a renowned facility with a unique and positive approach to helping learning disabled children prosper. She is as well the author of 10 books on child behavior and development.

Mr. Smith graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Amherst College and then Yale Law School. He moved to New Orleans to serve as a law clerk to the Honorable Charles Schwartz, Jr., United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. After his clerkship, Mr. Smith accepted a position with the Stone Pigman law firm, where he was named partner after five years before leaving the partnership five years thereafter to pursue his vision and launch Smith & Fawer.

Mr. Smith is also active in numerous bar organizations and at Loyola University each year teaches courses in the School of Law on business litigation/white-collar crime. Mr. Smith also lectures at seminars locally and nationally, particularly in the area of eminent domain. Mr. Smith was selected some 15 years ago as the sole Louisiana member of the Owners’ Counsel of America, a national association of experienced property right and eminent domain attorneys, and served recently as its Chair for two (2) years.

Awards and Honors

Super Lawyers® Selectees

Randall A. Smith included in a Super Lawyers® list

Honors

AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell®
Leadership in the Law, selected by New Orleans City Business magazine
Named 1 of Top 50 New Orleans Attorneys by New Orleans City Business magazine
Listed annually as one of the Top Attorneys in Louisiana by Louisiana Super Lawyers

Other Sources of Feedback About Randall A. Smith

Included on the 2024 Louisiana Super Lawyers list

Past Lists

2023 Louisiana Super Lawyers list
2022 Louisiana Super Lawyers list
2021 Louisiana Super Lawyers list
2020 Louisiana Super Lawyers list
2019 Louisiana Super Lawyers list
2018 Louisiana Super Lawyers list
2017 Louisiana Super Lawyers list
2016 Louisiana Super Lawyers list
2015 Louisiana Super Lawyers list
2014 Louisiana Super Lawyers list
2013 Louisiana Super Lawyers list
2012 Louisiana Super Lawyers list
2011 Louisiana Super Lawyers list
2010 Louisiana Super Lawyers list
2009 Louisiana Super Lawyers list
2008 Louisiana Super Lawyers list

Education

Legal Education
- Yale Law School, New Haven, Connecticut
  J.D.
Non Legal Education
- Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts
  B.A.
  Honors: Phi Beta Kappa

Current Employment Position(s)

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Founder and Managing Partner
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Languages

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French
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Classes and Seminars

Adjunct Professor of Law, Loyola University Law School
American Law Institute, Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation 2024, “Worth a Thousand Words: Visual Storytelling & Shaping Your Case with Creative Demonstratives,” New Orleans, Louisiana, February 1, 2023
American Law Institute, Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation 2021, “How Do I Keep My Firm’s Doors Open When the Courthouse Doors are Closed? Making Your Practice More Efficient When You Can’t Try Cases,” Webinar, January 28, 2021
American Law Institute, Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation 2019, “Building Your Case: Practical Suggestions on Working With Expert Witnesses in Eminent Domain,” Palm Springs, California, January 24, 2019
American Law Institute, Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation 2018, “Practice Tips and Pitfallsfor the Beginning Eminent Domain Lawyer ,” Charleston, South Carolina,January 25, 2018
American Law Institute, Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation 2017, “Exhibits in Eminent Domain: How to Make a Persuasive Case,” San Diego, California, January 26, 2017
The 19th Annual Conference on Litigating Takings Challenges to Land Use and Environmental Regulations by Tulane University School of Law and Vermont Law School, “The MRGO Litigation and Other Flooding Cases,” New Orleans, Louisiana, November 4, 2016
CLE International, Eminent Domain Current and Emerging Issues, “Eminent Domain Litigation Strategies: Successful Strategies for the Litigator,” Las Vegas, Nevada, September 30, 2016
21st Annual Tulane Environmental Law & Policy Summit, “Taken by Storm: Climate Change and Property Takings,” New Orleans, Louisiana, February 20, 2016
American Law Institute, 2016 ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation and Condemnation 101 Courses, “Advice for Beginning Eminent Domain Trial Lawyers on How to Win a Case,” Austin, Texas, January 28, 2016
Loyola University College of Law Annual Family Law Conference, “Nuts and Bolts of Interdiction,” New Orleans, Louisiana, November 12, 2015
Louisiana Bar Association/Louisiana Judicial College, Louisiana Rising, Lessons in Leadership, Innovation, and Balance, “Expropriation: An Update,” Sandestin Golf& Beach Resort, Florida,June 10, 2015
NBI-CLE, “Eminent Domain, From Start to Finish Seminar,” Baton Rouge, Louisiana, May 20, 2015
American Bar Association, 29th Annual National Institute on White Collar Crime, Break Out Panel, “Practical Issues in White Collar Criminal Cases,” New Orleans, Louisiana, March 4, 2015
American Bar Association, 29th Annual National Institute on White Collar Crime, “Harboring Aliens: Easier for Employers to Commit than Congress Intended,” New Orleans, Louisiana, March 4, 2015
American Law Institute, Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation, “Valuation of Temporary Construction Easements,” San Francisco, CA, February 6, 2015
American Law Institute, Condemnation 101, “Tips and Traps for the Beginning Eminent Domain Trial Lawyer,” San Francisco, CA, February 5, 2015
NBI-CLE, “Eminent Domain, From Start to Finish Seminar,” New Orleans, Louisiana, December 12, 2014
American Law Institute, Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation, “The Attorney and Expert: Adjustment and Cost to Cure in Theory and Practice,” New Orleans, LA, January 23, 2014
American Law Institute, Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation, “Condemnation Issues in the Aftermath of Natural Disasters: Case Studies in Louisiana and New Jersey,” New Orleans, LA, January24, 2014
American Law Institute, Condemnation 101, “Tips and Traps for the Beginning Eminent Domain Trial Lawyer,” New Orleans, LA, January 24, 2014
American Law Institute, Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation, “Unique Eminent Domain and Appraisal Issues Caused by Floods and Oil Spills: Lessons Learned from Katrina and Other Disasters,” Miami Beach, FL, January 25, 2013
American Law Institute, Condemnation 101, “Voir Dire in an Eminent Domain Jury Trial,” Miami Beach, FL, January 25, 2013
American Law Institute, Condemnation 101, “Effective Closing Arguments in Eminent Domain Cases,” Miami Beach, FL, January 25, 2013
American Law Institute, Condemnation 101, “Creative Use of Exhibits and Demonstrative Evidence in Domain Mediations and Trials,” San Diego, CA, January 27, 2012

Pro Bono Activities

Board Member, Hermes Beyond the Parade Foundation, Present
Board Member, Lab School of Washington, Present
Board Member, Watering Hole Foundation, Present
Board Member and Chair, Owners’ Counsel of America, 2018 - 2020
Board Member, Southern Repertory Theatre, 2018 - 2020
Board Member, Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans, 2016 - 2018
Board Member and Chair, Canal Street Development Corporation, 1994 - 2013

Representative Cases

City of New Orleans v. Smith Barney and BT Alex Brown
- Court: U.S.D.C. E.D. LA.
Dumont v. Schwab
Thomas v. Schwab
Pennzooil v. Oxy USA, Inc.
- Court: U.S.D.C. E.D. LA.
Dornfeld v. Omega Optical Co.
- Court: U.S.D.C. E.D. LA.
Addtel Communications, Inc. v. Worldcom, Inc.
- Court: U.S.D.C. E.D. LA.
MCI Telecommunications Corporation v. Value Call International, Inc.
- Court: U.S.D.C. D. Kan.
USA v. Bishop
- Court: U.S.D.C. E.D. LA.
Berg v. Zummo, et.al.
Jacobs v. Northern King Shipping Co., Ltd.
- Court: U.S.D.C. E.D. LA.

Bar Admissions

Louisiana
U.S. District Court Eastern District of Louisiana
U.S. District Court Western District of Louisiana
U.S. District Court Middle District of Louisiana
U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit
U.S. Supreme Court

Other Affiliations

American Bar Association
Louisiana Bar Association
Federal Bar Association
Association of Trial Lawyers of America
Fifth Circuit Bar Association
Louisiana Bar Foundation
New Orleans Bar Association

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Contact

New Orleans, LA

201 St. Charles Ave. #3702
New Orleans, LA 70170

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Phone: 504-445-4913

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Randall A. Smith - New Orleans, LA