Practice Emphasis
General civil trial practice concentrating in the areas of construction, insurance coverage, "bad faith," products liability, personal injury, professional (attorney, accountant, medical, architect and engineer) malpractice, wrongful death, premises liability, business and consumer litigation.
Professional Summary
Robert Smith has over 30 years of experience as a civil trial lawyer in both state and federal, trial and appellate, courts throughout Texas. Robert has been licensed since 1978 and began his legal career as a litigator with an insurance defense firm in San Antonio, Texas. From 1992-2002, he was Senior Trial Counsel for the Fireman's Fund Insurance Company and its associated companies throughout South Texas and managed its San Antonio counsel office. In 2002, he started his own litigation firm where he was the managing partner until joining Cokinos, Bosien & Young in 2009.
Robert has litigated all manner of legal disputes for individuals, insurance companies, corporations, and national chains as both plaintiffs and defendants across a broad spectrum of disputes including: multi-party building and roof collapses; aircraft crash and related fixed base operations; multi-million dollar construction defect claims involving large commercial buildings; intrastate, interstate and international trucking accidents; and, serious personal injury resulting in paralysis, brain injury and death from accidents, products, and assaults. He has tried cases in 54 different counties in Texas as well as the United States District Courts for the Western and Southern Districts of Texas. Robert has also pursued and defended civil appeals in Texas' Third, Fourth and Fifth Courts of Appeal, the Texas Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals - Fifth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.
As a result of his litigation representation of insurance companies in the area of "bad faith" or extra-contractual claims, Robert has also provided insurance company representation in the areas of insurance policy drafting, policy interpretation and the analysis of coverage issues.
Robert is "AV" rated by Martindale-Hubbell peer review ratings, the highest rating possible and he has been listed in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, Martindale-Hubbell (2002-2009).
Education
University of Texas at Austin (B.A., 1975)
St. Mary's University, School of Law (J.D., 1977)
Bar Admissions
State Bar of Texas (1978)
United States District Court
- Western District of Texas (1979)
United States Court of Appeals
- Fifth Circuit (1992)
United States Supreme Court (1992)
Memberships & Affiliations
San Antonio Bar Association
- Construction Law Section
State Bar of Texas
- Construction Law Section
- Litigation Section
- Insurance Law Section
Federal Bar Association
Robert M. Smith
Senior Counsel
San Antonio, Texas
(210) 293-8741 (Direct)
(210) 293-8733 (Fax)
rsmith@cbylaw.com
