Mary L Smith appointed as Assistant Attorney General, Tax at DOJ

[private]President Barack Obama has announced his intent to nominate Mary L. Smith as Assistant Attorney General, Tax Division, Department of Justice

Mary L. Smith currently is a Partner at Schoeman, Updike, Kaufman & Scharf LLP, a women-owned firm.  Smith specializes in complex litigation, regulatory practice, and government investigations. Earlier in her career, she served as Senior Litigation Counsel at Tyco International (US) Inc. where she managed the securities class action multi-district litigation – one of the largest cases pending in the country.  While at Tyco, Smith interacted with the tax department on a range of issues including employee benefits and more strategic issues involving litigation and the company’s corporate reorganization. Prior to Tyco, she was an attorney at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Washington, D.C.  Prior to her time at Skadden, Smith served in the Clinton White House as Associate Counsel to the President and Associate Director of Policy Planning where she was responsible for a number of policy areas including domestic violence, tax issues, equal pay, Internet gambling, Native American issues, and civil rights issues.  She was the highest-ranking Native American in the White House during the Clinton Administration.  From 1994-96, Smith served as a trial attorney for the United States Department of Justice Civil Division.  Smith graduated from the University of Chicago School of Law, cum laude, where she was a member of the Law Review.  Smith clerked for the Hon. R. Lanier Anderson III of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.  She received a B.S., magna cum laude, from Loyola University of Chicago.  Smith is a member of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession and a member of the Board of Managers for the Chicago Bar Association.     [/private]