Richard Craig Smith

Head of Regulatory and Governmental Investigations, United States

Richard Craig Smith

Washington, DC

T:+1 202 662 4795

F:+1 202 662 4643

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Richard Smith is Head of Regulatory and Governmental investigations, United States.

Richard's practice focuses on complex litigation, white collar crime criminal defense, and conducting internal investigations for public and private companies. Due to his extensive experience handling high-profile matters, Richard is often called on by the national media for commentary. Among others, he has appeared on CNN, 20/20 and has been quoted in The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and Birmingham News.

At his previous firm, Richard was chair of the Litigation Group in the Washington, D.C. office and co-chair of the White Collar, Parallel Proceedings and Corporate Advisory Practice Group. He has extensive experience representing corporate entities, their executives and employees in connection with grand jury investigations, white collar crime criminal prosecutions and criminal antitrust investigations and prosecutions. He also has experience representing business entities and executives in such civil matters as breach of contracts, tortious interference of business relationships, business conspiracy, fraud, criminal conversion and forum non conveniens. 

Richard was the former Acting Chief and Principal Deputy Chief for Litigation of the Fraud Section of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Criminal Division where he supervised the litigation activities of all trial attorneys in the investigation, indictment, and trial of criminal matters involving violations of conspiracy, wire and mail fraud, bank fraud, securities fraud, false books and records, obstruction of justice, money laundering, FCPA, and RICO statutes among others, and has 20 years of trial experience, handling over 100 criminal and civil cases in state and federal courts throughout the U.S. 

While at the DOJ, Richard tried the first cases prosecuted under the Sarbanes-Oxley statute and was instrumental in executing a new strategy to quickly investigate and prosecute corporate fraud matters. Richard also was Counsel to the Director of the Executive Office for the U.S. Attorneys where he served as the attorney-advisor to the Attorney General's Advisory Committee and represented the interests of all U.S. Attorneys. For five consecutive years, Richard received the "Special Achievement Award" recognizing his work at the DOJ.

He previously worked for six years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Texas, where he conducted long term grand jury investigations, prosecuted and tried numerous complex white collar and public corruption cases, and successfully argued four cases before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. He began his career trying criminal cases as an Assistant State Attorney in Jacksonville, Florida.

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  • Education

    2000 - LLM, Health Law, University of Houston Law Center
    1987 - JD, University of Florida College of Law
    1984 - MA, Political Science, University of Florida
    1983 - BA, Political Science, Alabama A&M University

    Richard is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia, Florida, before the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, District of Columbia, Maryland and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

  • Representative experience
    • Represented multinational energy companies before the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Committee (SEC) in an investigation related to allegations of FCPA violations
    • Represented former senior executives of a multinational energy company in a DOJ and SEC investigation into alleged FCPA violations 
    • Obtained a declination from the United States Attorney's Office, in relation to an investigation of alleged criminal healthcare fraud violations by a healthcare entity
    • Representation of healthcare company in qui tam health care fraud litigation and parallel criminal investigation for alleged violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute
    • Obtained a declination from the United States Attorney's Office, in relation to an investigation of alleged criminal healthcare fraud and  obstruction of justice violations by an insurance company
    • Represented a director during testimony before the Antitrust Division of the DOJ in relation to  an investigation of allegation of price fixing and cartel activity
    • Represented food produce industry company before the United States Attorneys Office and the DOJ Civil Division and Fraud Section in relation to False Claims Act allegations
    • Dismissal of RICO lawsuits filed in Federal and State court
    • Represented multinational energy company in a grand jury, BIS, OFAC and SEC investigations relating to sanctioned country restrictions and the FCPA
    • Represented companies in preparing production of documents in relation to Congressional investigations
    • Represented individuals during grand jury investigations
  • Professional activities
    • Director of Exactech Inc. (A publicly owned company based in Gainesville, Florida) (2010 - Present)
    • Advisory Board, University of Houston Law Center, Health Law & Policy Institute (2010 - Present)
    • Edward Bennett Williams Inn of Court (2002 - present) 
    • University of Florida College of Law Prosecutor/Public Defender Trial Training Program, Faculty Member (1993 - 1998)
    • American Inns of Court (1993 - 1995)
    • The Federal Bar Association (1993 - 1994)
    • Jacksonville Bar Association, member – Professionalism committee (1991 - 1992)
    • D.W. Perkins Bar Association, President (1992)
  • Professional honors
    • "Washington DC Super Lawyer," Criminal Defense: White Collar, Thomson Reuters (2013) 
    • "Outstanding Service and Leadership Award," The Attorney General's Advisory Committee of the U.S. Attorneys (2001)
    • "Arthur S. Fleming Award," George Washington University, for outstanding federal employees (1999)
    • "Director's Award for Superior Performance," U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office for the U.S. Attorneys (1998)
    • Award for outstanding prospective skills and assistance provided to the FBI in the Starr County, Texas Public Corruption Investigation of Sheriff Eugenio "Gene" Falcon, U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (1998)
    • Special Commendation for the successful prosecution of Operation Mr. Clean, U.S. Attorneys Office, Southern District of Texas (1998)
    • "Outstanding Professional Counsel and Prosecution," Eduardo Payan Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General (1997)
    • "Certificate of Service and Academic Achievement," Florida Bar Foundation Public Service Law Fellow, University of Florida College of Law and the Center for Governmental Responsibility (1986 - 1987)
  • Speaking engagements
    • Speaker, "International Anti-Bribery Regulation and Enforcement, including the Bribery Act 2010," Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP, London, United Kingdom, September 14, 2010
    • Panelist, "FCPA Boot Camp," SEC Headquarters, Washington, D.C., July 28, 2010
    • Co-Speaker with Paul Jacobs, "Managing Corporate Conduct: The Board's Role in Internal Investigations," Corporate Board Member, First Quarter 2010
    • Speaker, "The Ever-Expanding Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: Risk Management, Due Diligence and Compliance Strategies," Fulbright Breakfast Seminar, New York, New York, September 10, 2009
    • Speaker, "Fulbright Forum:  Corporations Beware: What to Do When the Government Comes Knocking,"  Fulbright Web Seminar, May 5, 2009
    • Speaker, "Recent Developments in Foreign Corrupt Practices Cases," 23rd Annual National Institute on White Collar Crime, San Francisco, California, March 5, 2009 
    • "Litigation Trends: Preparing for the Coming Wave of Government Investigations," Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P., Washington, D.C., November 20, 2008
    • "Internal Investigations," Washington Healthcare Summit 2008, Arlington, VA, November 17, 2008
    • "International Regulation of Trade," Directors Roundtable seminar, co-hosted by Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. and Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, Los Angeles, California, November 11, 2008
    • "The Rise of Corporate Monitors: Prevalence, Pitfalls and Prevention," National Institute on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Houston, Texas, October 16 - 17, 2008
    • "Fulbright's Fifth Annual Litigation Trends Survey Findings Seminar," Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. and Bloomberg Law seminar, New York, New York, October 14, 2008
    • "Hot Issues in Attorney-Client Privilege: Investigations and International Issues," Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P., Houston, Texas, October 7, 2008
    • "Government Investigations and Attorney-Client Privilege," Chicago Bridge & Iron Legal Department Conference, Houston, Texas, October 2008
    • "International Regulation of Trade," Directors Roundtable seminar, co-hosted by Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. and Forensic Risk Alliance, Dallas, Texas, September 26, 2008
    • "Managing Risk in Global Operations: Defining New Strategies Under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," Economist Conferences, New York, New York, September 23, 2008
    • "The Subprime Mortgage Crisis: Causes, Forecasts and Legal Implications," Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. seminar, New York, New York, April 4, 2008
    • "Compliance Challenges: The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. and TRACE International seminar, Denver, Colorado, February 28, 2008
    • "Lessons for Transactional Lawyers: Reducing the Risks of Post-Transactional Enforcement Activity Beyond the Transaction Closes," ABA Health Law Section, 9th Annual Conference on Emerging Issues in Healthcare Law, San Diego, California, February 21, 2008
    • "Between a Rock and Hard Place: Successful Advocacy in the Face of Parallel Investigations," New York City Bar, New York, New York, October 25, 2007
    • "The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Five Years Later: Assessing Its Impact, Charting Its Future," University of Maryland School of Law, Baltimore, Maryland, October 19, 2007
    • "Men in Black: Handling Government Investigations and Second Requests," Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Web Seminar, September 25, 2007
    • "Compliance Challenges: The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. and TRACE International seminar, Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 2007
    • "Beyond Mentoring – Ensuring and Cultivating Attorney Development," 4th National Forum on Law Firm Diversity, New York, New York, March 2007
    • "Overcoming Adversity within Diversity – Success," 4th National Forum on Law Firm Diversity, New York, New York, March 2007
    • "A Searching Inquiry into Failures of Corporate Ethics: WorldCom, Tyco and HealthSouth," Medtronic Business and Law Roundtable, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota, November 2006
    • "Trying Complex Securities Fraud Cases: Lessons From the Courtroom," ABA National Institute on Securities Fraud, Washington, D.C., September 2006
    • "Legal Audits: A key Component of Compliance Programs," Minority Corporate Counsel Association 5th Annual CLE Expo, Chicago, Illinois, March 2006
  • Licenses
    • Washington D.C. Bar License
    • Florida State Bar License
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