R. Gregory Smith

gsmith@arnlaw.com
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Phone: 614.460.1637
Fax: 614.469.1093

471 East Broad Street, Suite 1400
Columbus, Ohio 43215

"You should never lose because you did not work hard enough."

A former college athlete who earned both his undergraduate degree and his law degree from The Ohio State University while on full academic scholarships, Greg is accustomed to achieving success through hard work and a desire to be the best.

The same passion and competitive fire that earned Academic All-American and All-Big Ten honors for Greg continues today in his legal practice, where he focuses on commercial litigation, consumer law, catastrophic personal injury, and complex tort litigation.

Greg is an experienced trial lawyer with eight years of solid litigation experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants. He believes that a lawyer must fully understand both perspectives to have the best chance of success.

Greg recently co-counseled one of the largest premises liability verdicts in Ohio history with Jim Arnold. In that case, a young special education teacher was severely injured when she slipped on an icy patch of sidewalk in the walkway leading to her apartment. The apartment complex had removed the gutters and downspouts during a winter siding project and, despite numerous complaints from residents, neglected to maintain the walkways that had been subsequently overwrought with ice. The young teacher fractured her elbow when she fell and contracted Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), a painfully debilitating and permanent injury. During the ten days of trial, Greg and Jim persuaded the jury that her injuries were a result of the negligence of the manager of the apartment complex and the property owner, and returned a significant award on her behalf.

Greg is admitted to practice in all courts in the State of Ohio, the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, and the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. Greg is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association, Columbus Bar Association, and the American Association for Justice.

Greg's core practice areas include commercial litigation, class actions, consumer law, wrongful death, medical malpractice and personal injury.

Education

J.D., The Ohio State University, 1999
Full Academic Scholarship
Herman Moot Court Team
Black Law Student Association
Street Law Program Instructor

B.S., Civil/Environmental Engineering, The Ohio State University, 1996
Full Academic Scholarship
The Ohio State University Varsity Soccer Team (Four-year starter)
Four time Academic All-Big Ten
Four time The Ohio State University Scholar Athlete Award
Student Athlete Advisory Board
Peer Mentoring Program
Chi Epsilon (National Civil Engineering Honor Society)
American Society of Civil Engineers
Kappa Sigma Fraternity

Jurisdictions Admitted to Practice

State of Ohio, 1999
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio, 2000
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio, 2005

Professional & Bar Association Memberships

Columbus Bar Association, 1999

Ohio State Bar Association, 1999

Federal Bar Association, 2007

American Association for Justice, 2005