News Article

Sandy Smith leads a team of proven corporate attorneys joining Womble Carlyle

Public Relations Contacts: Russell Thomas, (202) 857-4517 or Kay Newman, (404) 888-7497.

ATLANTA-Veteran corporate and securities attorney John F. "Sandy" Smith has joined Womble Carlyle's Atlanta office as a member in the firm's Corporate and Securities Practice Group.

"Sandy is a premier business lawyer with deep community and business contacts," said Clinton Richardson, Womble Carlyle's Atlanta Managing Member. "We look forward to the energy, business acumen and creativity that Sandy and his team will bring to Womble Carlyle and the Atlanta office. We are delighted to have them on board."

"It is a unique opportunity when you can add someone of Sandy's stature to your team, which is one reason we are so pleased to welcome him to Womble Carlyle," said Jeff Howland, head of Womble Carlyle's Corporate and Securities Practice Group. "Sandy is a proven leader who will contribute immediately to the success of our corporate practice and help lead our efforts to grow our Atlanta office."

Smith and his team have developed a full-service, national practice. Smith is a trusted outside counsel and advisor to businesses across the country. Smith originates, negotiates, completes and manages major corporate and financial transactions of all types. He advises many notable public and private companies spanning industries such as information systems, technology, healthcare, service/staffing, transportation/distribution, hospitality/retail, and investment funds and holding companies. Smith is listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business as a top lawyer in Corporate M&A for 2009.

Smith also has a wealth of demonstrated experience advising boards of directors regarding corporate governance, director duties, fiduciary duties of management and compliance.

"I am excited to join what I consider to be one of the best business law firms in the country," said Smith. "Womble Carlyle has a national reputation for quality and client service and a bright future doing business in an international city like Atlanta. The variety and depth of expertise, geographic breadth of its offices, seasoned business approach, and ambition to expand beyond its base, makes Womble Carlyle the ideal platform to help my clients grow and prosper."

In addition to his legal practice, Smith is well-known for his leadership and community service in Atlanta and throughout the country. Smith has served on the Board of Trustees of Stanford University, the Paideia School, The National Kidney Foundation, Prevent Blindness Georgia, The Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School and Columbia Seminary. He also has served on the Advisory Board of the Tuck School at Dartmouth College and in 2009 was named to the Advisory Board of the Stanford Institute for Economic Research (SIEPR). He is the Founding Chair of the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences (IRISS) at Stanford University and Odyssey, an educational program for public school students in the city of Atlanta. Smith has served on the Board of Governors of the Stanford Associates and The Westminster Schools Alumni Board. Smith served on the President's Council of the Woodruff Arts Center. He is a member of the Leadership Atlanta Class of 2000.

Among other service awards, Smith has received the Stanford Medal and The Westminster Schools Alumni Service Award. A popular lecturer, Smith annually serves as an Executive in Residence at The Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College. He also has served as an Executive in Residence at The Goizueta Business School at Emory University.

Smith graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in Religious Studies and English with Honors in Humanities and earned his M.B.A. from Dartmouth College's The Amos Tuck School of Business Administration. Smith earned his J.D. from Duke University. He speaks fluent Spanish and travels frequently throughout South America.

As part of his team, Bernard Coleman also joins as a Member in the firm's Corporate and Securities Practice. Coleman has a comprehensive corporate and securities practice, with experience that includes all aspects of organizing, financing, developing, acquiring and selling a business. He has completed mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, debt financing arrangements, company formations, and tax-exempt structurings on behalf of clients. Coleman has completed deals and represented clients in the manufacturing, technology, investment, health care, restaurant and sports/entertainment industries.

Away from the office, Coleman is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Kidney Foundation of Georgia as well as the Corporate Leadership Council of the Fernbank Museum of Natural History. He is a graduate of Harvard University and the University of Virginia School of Law.

In addition, Corporate and Securities attorneys Travis Townsend and Louis Barbieri III are bringing their experience to the firm, continuing their relationship with Smith and Coleman.

Travis Townsend has counseled clients on SEC filings and compliance, helped companies secure venture capital financing, negotiated sales and divestitures of interest in joint ventures, and reorganized a franchise system. Townsend's clients include entrepreneurs and blue chip companies and businesses in the pharmaceutical, manufacturing, retail and telecommunications industries. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and University of Michigan School of Law.

Louis Barbieri III has extensive experience working with corporate clients on mergers and acquisitions in a variety of industries, as well as completing multiple equity private placements and assisting clients with tax-exempt status matters. He is a graduate of Stetson University and the University of Florida Levin College of Law.

All come to Womble Carlyle from the firm of Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP, in Atlanta.

Womble Carlyle - Innovators at Law
A full-service business law firm, Womble Carlyle ranks among American Lawyer magazine's list of the 100 leading firms in the country and is a top law firm for companies doing business in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states.

The firm is a recipient of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund Corporate Leadership Award, making Womble Carlyle the first law firm ever to receive the highest honor given to a business organization in recognition of its support of the Fund and its 45 member educational institutions.

The firm also is the first law firm to be awarded the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Freedom Award, which is the highest recognition given by the U.S. government to employers for their support of employees who serve in the National Guard and Reserve.

Founded in 1876, Womble Carlyle operates in six states and the District of Columbia with more than 500 attorneys in eleven offices located in Atlanta, GA; Washington, DC; Baltimore, MD; Tysons Corner, VA; Wilmington, DE; Raleigh; Research Triangle Park; Charlotte; Greensboro and Winston-Salem, NC; and Greenville, SC.