PHILADELPHIA – March 7, 2022 – The Philadelphia office of global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP announces the addition of Shareholder Sherman W. Smith III to its Corporate Practice.
Smith has built a portfolio practice, advising and representing clients ranging from some of the nation’s largest financial institutions to privately-held businesses and investors to commercial real estate developers of all sizes.
“Sherman helps further fill out the corporate services this office offers local clients as well as globally-situated ones,” said Curtis B. Toll, managing shareholder of Greenberg Traurig’s Philadelphia office. “He is a well-experienced middle market practitioner whose finance knowledge is as comprehensive about private equity issues as it is about real estate matters.
“We value his local and national relationships with long-standing clients and businesses as well as his commitment to community uplift, and know he will play a strong role in further serving the wide range of sectors we continue to cultivate,” Toll added.
Smith built much of his three-decades-long career at Buchanan Ingersoll as a corporate attorney with a diverse portfolio of clients and transactional matters, sans time spent as associate general counsel for Don King Productions, Inc., from 1999-2002. In private practice, Smith has routinely handled complex matters involving mergers and acquisitions, formation, and capital raises of private equity funds, including capital deployment, among others.
“The broad experiences and insights Sherman possesses and deploys enhances our offerings in Philadelphia, advances our strategic growth, and furthers our commitment to providing high-level, sophisticated services,” Greenberg Traurig Global Corporate Practice Co-Chair Bruce I. March said. “He has the acumen to leverage our platform to benefit and elevate our clients and, by extension, our firm.”
Smith, who grew up bicoastally between Philadelphia and Los Angeles, graduated from Central High School, Morehouse College, and the Howard University School of Law with honors – the third generation of his family to do such. Both his father and grandfather served as judges on the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Since 2016, Smith has served on the board of directors for Philadelphia Opportunities Industrialization Center, the workforce and education development nonprofit founded by pioneering civil rights activist and corporate tactician the Rev. Dr. Leon H. Sullivan. Sullivan, who believed in and preached “economic emancipation,” developed the first Black-owned and managed commercial shopping plaza in the United States, served as a Fortune 500 corporate board member, and was an early proponent of corporate social responsibility doctrines. In Sullivan’s mold, Smith focuses a considerable segment of his practice to real estate finance work centered on creating opportunities for visionary commercial developers of color nationwide. Those range from affordable housing to commercial corridor creation and expansion efforts led by nontraditional real estate development and investment teams.
“In Sherman we have a seasoned lawyer who does not see client service and project profitability as mutually exclusive to creative solutions for civic challenges,” said Joshua D. Cohen, co-chair of the Philadelphia Real Estate Practice. “His deep knowledge of the development community in this region – its players, trends, and possibilities – will serve this firm and our clients well. We’re excited to have him on the team.”
About Greenberg Traurig’s Philadelphia Office: Founded in 1997, Greenberg Traurig’s Philadelphia office is home to some 50-plus attorneys and more than a dozen practices including Real Estate, Litigation, Restructuring & Bankruptcy, Corporate, White Collar Defense & Special Investigations, Environmental, Immigration & Compliance, Investment Regulation, Labor & Employment, Public Finance, Government Law & Policy, Private Wealth Services, and Tax. The Philadelphia office represents clients in the manufacturing, health care, real estate, energy, financial, and insurance industries, state and local governments, professional service, and energy firms, and individuals.
About Greenberg Traurig’s Corporate Practice: Greenberg Traurig’s Corporate Practice comprises more than 500 lawyers in the United States, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America who regularly advise public and privately held companies, entrepreneurs and investment funds on global mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings, private equity and venture capital, underwritten and syndicated offerings, commercial finance and syndicated lending, cross-border transactions, and general corporate matters. The group’s industry experience includes transactions in a wide range of fields, from the pharmaceutical, medical devices, and life sciences fields, to representations involving clients in the aviation, banking, consumer products, energy, food and beverage, health care, manufacturing, media, technology, and telecommunications sectors.
About Greenberg Traurig's Real Estate Practice: The Greenberg Traurig Real Estate Practice is a cornerstone of the firm and recognized leader in the industry. The firm’s real estate attorneys deliver diversified and comprehensive counsel for property acquisition and investment, development, management and leasing, financing, restructuring, and disposition of all asset classes of real estate. The team draws upon the knowledge and experience of more than 450 real estate lawyers from around the world, serving clients from key markets in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. The group’s clientele includes a broad range of property developers, lenders, investment managers, private equity funds, REITs, and private owners. The firm’s real estate team advises clients on a variety of matters across a broad spectrum of commercial, recreational, and residential real estate, including structured equity and debt and the hybrids.
About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP has more than 2,400 attorneys in 42 locations in the United States, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. The firm, often recognized for its focus on philanthropic giving, innovation, diversity, and pro bono, reported gross revenue of over $2 Billion for FY 2021. The firm is consistently among the top firms on the Am Law 100, Am Law Global 100, NLJ 250, and Law360 (US) 400. On the debut 2022 Law360 Pulse Leaderboard, it is a Top 15 firm. Greenberg Traurig is Mansfield Rule 4.0 Certified Plus by The Diversity Lab and net carbon neutral with respect to its office energy usage. Web: www.gtlaw.com