Judge Smith was appointed a judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims on July 11, 1985 and entered duty on September 12, 1985. He was designated Chief Judge on January 14, 1986. He graduated from Northwestern University, receiving a B.A. in 1966; he attended Northwestern University School of Law, receiving a J.D. in 1969.
Judge Smith formerly served as Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States from 1981 to 1985. During his tenure as Chairman, Judge Smith was a member of the President's Cabinet Councils on Legal Policy and on Management and Administration. He also served as the Chairman of the Council of Independent Regulatory Agencies. Judge Smith was Deputy Director of the Executive Branch Management Office of Presidential Transition from 1980-81; Chief Counsel, Reagan for President campaigns in 1976 and 1980; Professor of Law, Delaware Law School, 1976-1984; Special Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, 1974-75; Assistant to the Special Counsel to the President, 1973-74; General Attorney, Federal Communications Commission in 1973; and Consultant, Sidley & Austin, Chicago, 1972-73. Also in 1972 he served as host of a nightly radio talk show called What's Best for America? In 1970, he ran for Illinois General Assembly with the endorsement of the Chicago Tribune.APA-p>Judge Smith is author of the following: The Morality of Regulation, William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review, 1998; The Aging of Administrative Law: The Administrative Conference Reaches Early Retirement, Arizona State Law Journal, 1998; Renovation of an Old Court, Federal Bar News and Journal, September 1993; A Spring Thaw in Estonia, The Washington Times, April 11, 1992; Administration: An Idea Whose Time May Have Passed, in The Fettered Presidency, eds. L. Gordon Crovitz & Jeremy A. Rabkin, 1989; Vision of the Exchange, William & Mary Law Review, 1986; Judicialization of the Administrative Process: The Fine Print, National Legal Center for the Public Interest, 1986; The End of the Constitution, 4 Detroit College of Law Review 1147 (1986); Judicialization: The Twilight of Administrative Law, 85 Duke L.J. 2, 1985; Judicial Review of Administrative Decisions, 7 Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy 61 (1984); Business, Buck+ACQ & Bull, The Corporation, The First Amendment & The Corrupt Practice of Law, 4 Delaware J. of Corporate Law 1, 1978. He is co-author of Black America and Organized Labor: A Fair Deal?, The Lincoln Institute for Research and Education (1979).
He is a member of the Bars of the Supreme Court of Illinois; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces; United States Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit; United States Supreme Court; United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit; United States Court of Federal Claims.
Judge Smith is an Honorary Member of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia and was the recipient of their Judicial Honoree Award for 1997. He is also an Honorary Member of the University Club of Washington, D.C. where he serves as Chairman of the Centennial Committee. In 1991, he received the Club's Member of the Year Award. Judge Smith is chairman of the WETA Community Advisory Board. At the 1997 National Property Rights Conference, he was presented with The Ronald Reagan Public Service Award. In 1993, Judge Smith was presented with the Presidential Medal by The Catholic University of America. He served as the University of Denver College of Law's first Distinguished Jurist-in-Residence. In 1995, Judge Smith was presented with the Allen Chair from the University of Richmond School of Law, Richmond, VA; an Honorary L.L.D. from John Marshall Law School, Atlanta, GA; and, the Romanian Medal of Justice, presented by the Romanian Minister of Justice. He was awarded an Honorary L.L.D. from Capital University Law School, Columbus, Ohio in 1996 and Campbell University, The Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, Buies Creek, NC in 1997.
Judge Smith is Adjunct Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law; Washington College of Law, American University; Georgetown University Law Center; and Columbus School of Law, The Catholic University of America. He taught as an Adjunct Professor of Law at The International School of Law (now George Mason University School of Law), 1973-74. Judge Smith has served as an international elections observer in Chile and Serbia. He has spoken and appeared on TV and radio in Estonia, The Republic of South Africa, Zambia, Kenya, The Czech Republic, Hungary, Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Italy, Germany, England, Canada, Spain, Switzerland, and Ukraine on behalf of the United States Information Agency and other groups.