Brig Smith

Profile

Adjunct Professor
Law College Building
648 N. Shaw Lane Rm
East Lansing, MI 48824-1300
brigsmith@hotmail.com

Biography

Brig Smith became one of the youngest city attorneys in Lansing’s history when Mayor Virg Bernero appointed him on March 13, 2006. He now also is one of its longest-serving. In his time with the city, he has moved to modernize, digitize, and economize the Office of the City Attorney so that it equals or exceeds the capabilities of the leading private law firms in the city, if not the state. Prior to becoming city attorney, Smith was a partner at Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn, where he specialized in managing complex litigation.

Since becoming city attorney, Smith and his staff have spearheaded legal negotiations on over $500 million in new investment in the city. These projects led to Lansing being named one of the top 10 cities for young adults and the seventh fastest growing region in the country. The projects, which are literally elevating the city’s skyline and renovating its riverfront, include:

The Kewadin Grand River Casino (a $245 Million tribal casino that will fully fund the “Lansing Promise,” paying for four years of tuition at any public college or university in the state for graduates of the Lansing School District)
The Accident Fund’s World Headquarters (a $180 Million riverfront transformation of the old Ottawa Power Station)
Michigan State Police Headquarters
Knapp’s Office Center (a multi-million dollar rehabilitation and reuse of a former downtown department store and one of the City’s irreplaceable art deco icons)
Potter Park Zoo (a cutting edge agreement saving the state’s oldest zoo from extinction)

Smith has been recognized for his service to the city. He was named the first-ever “Young Public Lawyer of the Year” by the International Municipal Lawyers Association. He also was named one of the region’s “Ten Over the Next Ten Years” by the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce, and a Rising Star two years in a row by Super Lawyers, which recognizes outstanding lawyers in each state, as nominated by their peers. He is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell—the highest rating for professional and ethical excellence by the nation’s leading peer review rankings.

Smith teaches Complex Civil Litigation as an adjunct professor at Michigan State University College of Law. His article, “Who’s the Boss? Deciding Who Your Client is when You’re a City Attorney,” was published in the Cooley Journal of Practical and Clinical Law.

A cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, Smith won the Williston Prize for outstanding negotiation skills in the 1L class and later went on to teach negotiation through the Harvard Program of Instruction for Lawyers. He received his undergraduate degree Phi Beta Kappa and with highest distinction from the University of Michigan.

Smith served as a White House staffer before entering the field of law. Prior to that, he worked as a professional DJ at “Rock 103” WIQB FM in Ann Arbor.