Mark W. Smith Joins King's as Presidential Scholar and Senior Fellow in Law and Public Policy

    NEW YORK, NY, March 19, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The King's College is pleased to announce the appointment of Mark W. Smith as Presidential Scholar and Senior Fellow in Law and Public Policy. Smith will deliver lectures on legal theory and practice, mentor students as they pursue career paths in the law, and advise the college on its pre-law studies program.

Smith is an accomplished trial lawyer and business attorney with a history of significant courtroom accomplishments. Smith began his law career with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in New York City before moving to Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman LLP, where he was an equity partner. In 2007, Smith co-founded Smith Valliere PLLC, which was named Top Boutique Law Firm in New York City in 2015 by SmartCEO magazine.

Smith's legal career has captured repeated national media attention. He gained fame in 1996 for winning as co-counsel a precedent-setting civil rights case, which a cover story in The New York Times called the largest verdict of its kind in New York history. Smith has also tried the largest no-fault insurance trial in U.S. history for $23 million. He has represented clients before the U.S. Supreme Court and has litigated billions of dollars in lawsuits including cases involving Goldman Sachs, AIG, U.S. Trust, GEICO, Adelphia Communications Corp., and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

"I am delighted to join The King's College, and look forward to working with other faculty and scholars toward the college's goal of preparing students for careers of leadership in public and private institutions," said Smith.

Smith's success is not limited to the courtroom. He is a New York Times bestselling author of four books, including Disrobed: The New Battle Plan to Break The Left's Stranglehold on the Courts (Crown Forum Random House). He has appeared frequently on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and CNBC. He is also a member of the American Theatre Wing's Advisory Committee and a Broadway Tony Awards voter.

"Mark Smith is one of the premier trial lawyers and business attorneys in America today," noted Gregory Alan Thornbury, President of The King's College. "His presence on campus will give our students direct access to the legal cases shaping jurisprudence today, and his vast experience and professional network will benefit the entire college community."

"But he is more than just a respected litigator," Thornbury continued. "Mark Smith understands the mission and vision of The King's College, and moreover is a champion for the ideas and values we hold dear. Moreover, he is a renaissance man, given his contributions to the literary, theater, and entertainment worlds. It is an honor to count him as one of our colleagues."

Smith is a graduate of the NYU School of Law and a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of South Carolina with a degree in Economics. He is a former professor of law at the University of Kansas School of Law, and is a former editor of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy.

Through its commitment to the truths of Christianity and a biblical worldview, The King's College seeks to transform society by preparing students for careers in which they help to shape and eventually to lead strategic public and private institutions, and by supporting faculty members as they directly engage culture through writing and speaking publicly on critical issues.

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