People in the news

Mary L. Smith

Assistant Attorney General-designate for the Tax Division of the Department of Justice (since April 2009)

(Schoeman Updike Kaufman and Scharf)

Why She Matters

Smith's career has been a mixture of part lawyer and part campaign adviser. She worked in the Clinton administration both as a Justice Department attorney and in the White House counsel's office. She also served as in-house counsel for Tyco International during a class-action suit that resulted in the company settling for $3 billion, the largest settlement ever for that kind of law suit. Most recently, she served as a partner at a female-owned Chicago firm before Barack Obama nominated her as the assistant attorney general for the Tax Division at the Justice Department.

And in between those jobs, she helped campaign: for Clinton in 1996, for Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) in 2004, for Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2008 and for Barack Obama during the 2008 general election campaign. Though she has extensive experience as a manager (she supervised scores of lawyers during the Tyco case, for instance) and has often advised companies during Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigations and RICO suits, Smith has limited experience in tax law, a point that was made by most Judiciary Committee Republicans during the confirmation process.

Read more

Background

At a Glance

Career History: Partner at Schoeman Updike & Kaufman (since June 2008); Member of Obama-Biden Transition Team for the Department of Justice (Nov. 2008 to Jan. 2009); Member of D.C. Finance Committee, Hillary Clinton for President (March 2007 to June 2008); Senior litigation counsel, Tyco International (US) Inc. (Aug. 2005 to July 2007); Senior Associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (May 2001 to Aug. 2005); Associate Counsel to the President (April 2000 to Jan. 2001); Associate Director of Policy Planning at the Domestic Policy Council (May 1997 to April 2000)
Birthday: August 28, 1962
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois

Alma Mater: Loyola University of Chicago, B.S., 1984; Loyola University of Chicago School of Law, attended, 1988-89; University of Chicago School of Law, J.D., 1991
Web site

Path to Power

Smith, a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is a lifelong Chicagoan. Born in the Chicago suburb of Lansing, Ill., Smith graduated magna cum laude from Loyola University of Chicago in 1984. She spent nearly four years as a systems programmer for Walgreens Company in Deerfield, Ill., and another eight months as a senior systems engineer for Northern Trust Bank in Chicago.

In 1988, she drastically changed career paths. She enrolled at Loyola's law school, transferred to the University of Chicago after her first year, and graduated in 1991. During her summers, she worked for a Chicago judge and served as an associate at the law firm Mayer, Brown & Platt, also in Chicago. She also interned at the U.S. attorney's office for the northern district of Illinois while at school. Smith clerked for Judge R. Lanier Anderson III on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Macon, Ga., and then took a job at the law firm of Ross & Hardies back in her hometown.

Read more

The Issues

At Schoeman, Updike & Kaufman, Smith advised businesses during SEC investigations, class actions and civil suits. Her biography says she worked on securities fraud, RICO violations and preventative compliance measures.

Tax Experience

But Smith has limited experience with tax law, no experience with jury trials and no experience as a prosecutor, all of which are major parts of the Tax Division's portfolio.

Read more

A large percentage of DOJ's Tax Division revolves around prosecuting violators of tax laws; it also is responsible for defending the Treasury secretary and IRS commissioner against claims that the U.S. tax code is invalid.

At her confirmation hearing, Smith talked about the difficult balance between prosecuting large, high-profile tax fraud cases and smaller, routine enforcement cases. She was also asked repeatedly about how she would use her enforcement power to deter off-shore tax havens, to which she responded simply that she would enforce whatever laws Congress enacted relating to the matter.

Republicans strongly criticized Smith during the Senate confirmation process for her lack of tax law experience. "I believe that the Senate owes some deference to a President's nominees, so long as they are qualified. That is the question I have for you," Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) stated. "I see that you have some experience in private practice, a few years in the Justice Department's Civil Division, and a lot of political campaign experience. But what I do not see in your background is any tax experience."

Smith countered that claim by noting her extensive litigation experience (she says the Tax Division is primarily a litigation division "at its heart"). She pointed to her work in the Clinton White House, where she collaborated with the National Economic Council on tax legislation for tribal governments. She also mentioned her work advising companies during government investigations and her role as the lead attorney for Tyco International during a massive class-action suit against the company. Nathan Hochman, the last assistant attorney general for the Tax Division under President George W. Bush wrote a letter to the committee in support of Smith's nomination, saying her "private practice experience in complex litigation gives her a working background for the type of cases litigated by the Division."

Tyco Class-Action Suit

From August 2005 to July 2007, Smith served as the primary in-house counsel for Tyco International in a securities class-action multi-district lawsuit. The suit, brought by Tyco investors against the company, claimed securities fraud against the company after top executives, including CEO L. Dennis Kozlowski, were convicted of grand larceny, falsification of business records and conspiracy. Tyco ultimately settled in May 2007 for nearly $3 billion, the largest settlement ever for that type of litigation.

Native American Issues

Smith was the highest-ranking Native American in Clinton's White House, and has been active in Native American issues.

She is a delegate for the National Native American Bar Association, was a senior adviser for Native American policy during Sen. John F. Kerry's (D-Mass.) 2008 presidential campaign, and wrote an article for an American Bar Association newsletter about the need for increased funding for tribal justice systems.

While at Clinton's Domestic Policy Council, Smith helped incorporate language into an appropriations bill that treated tribal governments as equals with state and local governments under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act. Previously, tribes had been treated as corporations, so they paid unemployment tax to both the federal and state governments to take part in the state unemployment program (after the change, tribes, like other governments, did not pay state unemployment taxes but instead reimbursed the state for benefits paid).

The Network

Smith is a prominent Chicago lawyer, who has spent her entire career in Chicago or Washington. She worked in the Clinton administration in the DOJ's Civil Division, the Domestic Policy Council and the White House counsel's office. At the Domestic Policy Council, Smith worked for, among others, Obama Solicitor General Elena Kagan, who was then the council's deputy director.

Smith has also worked on the presidential campaigns of Bill Clinton, John F. Kerry, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

Campaign Contributions

Smith has donated to a handful of prominent Democratic candidates, including the maximum allowable $4,600 to both Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign.

Additional Resources