Jeffery E. Smith

Practice Areas

• Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights
  • Asset Purchases and Sales
  • Secured Creditor and Lender Representation
  • Workouts and Restructuring
• Corporate and Business Organizations
  • Corporate Governance and Fiduciary Duties
  • Counseling New, Emerging, and Mature Business Clients
  • Federal and State Securities Law Compliance
  • Mergers and Acquisitions
• Financial Institutions
  • Banks
  • Commercial Finance
  • Savings Associations
• Labor and Employment
  • Employment Relations, Policies, and Regulatory Practice
    • Covenants Not to Compete and Trade Secrets
    • Employee Discipline and Termination
    • Whistleblower Protection
• Litigation
  • Business and Commercial
  • Consumer Lending and Lender Liability
  • Corporate Investigations
  • Corporate Takeovers and Changes of Control
  • Securities, Shareholder Disputes, and Corporate Governance

Industries

• Financial Institutions

Education

• University of Toledo, J.D., 1978
• University of Toledo, B.A., 1975

Bar & Court Admissions

• Ohio
• Indiana
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth District

Jeffery E. Smith is a partner in the Vorys Columbus office and a member of the corporate and finance group. He has more than 30 years experience in financial institution regulatory and corporate matters, including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, regulatory compliance, capital raising, securities matters, corporate governance matters, “troubled institution” issues and de novo bank and holding company formation. Throughout his career, Mr. Smith has represented multinational financial services holding companies as well as community bank organizations.

Career highlights include:

• Representing public and private clients in extensive Ohio, Indiana and multi-state M&A, regulatory, governance, capital raising and securities activities, from large national institutions to smaller community banks
• Acquisitions and divestitures of more than 250 subsidiary branch banking operations in 13 states
• Conducting board training and representing financial institutions, as well as officers and boards, in state and federal regulatory enforcement actions and corporate governance matters
• Serving as in-house general counsel for several financial institutions and as part of executive management teams responsible for successful turnarounds of “troubled” institutions
• Serving as "special counsel" for the Ohio Division of Financial Institutions in a comprehensive rewrite of Ohio banking laws, and as the co-chair of the Ohio State Bar Association’s Financial Institutions Subcommittee

Mr. Smith is a former partner in the Columbus office of Bricker & Eckler LLP and served as in-house counsel for the former Bank One Corporation. He also served as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of the former Lincoln Financial Corporation in Fort Wayne, IN and senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of the former Trustcorp, Inc. in Toledo, Ohio, where he participated as a member of executive management teams responsible for successful turn-around initiatives for those institutions.

Mr. Smith is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association and former co-chair of the association’s financial institutions subcommittee. He is also a member of the Indiana State Bar Association, the Columbus Bar Association and the Toledo Bar Association.

Mr. Smith writes regularly for banking publications, and presents seminars on a variety of topics, including merger and acquisition issues for financial institutions, corporate governance for bank directors and the practical implications of bank regulatory enforcement actions. He is also the co-author of a widely recognized handbook for bank directors.

Mr. Smith received his J.D. from the University of Toledo College of Law. He received his B.A. from the University of Toledo.

Professional and Community Activities

• Member, Ohio Bankers League, Community Bankers Association of Ohio, Indiana Bankers Association
• Former Member, Editorial Board, Hoosier Banker Magazine
• Instructor, Ohio Bankers League School of Banking
• Trustee, University of Toledo Foundation
• Member, Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges
• Former Advisory Board Member, Powell (Ohio) Area YMCA
• Former Trustee, Olentangy Education Foundation
• Dean's Advisory Board, University of Toledo College of Law
• Member, University of Toledo College of Law, Student Mentor Program

News

• DCB Financial Corp Retains Vorys to Assist in Stock Sale
• Smith featured in Law360 Corporate and Finance Article
• Vorys Adds New Partner to Corporate and Finance Group

Events

• The Heuerman Lecture Series: The Financial Crisis – A Retrospective and Update

Publications

• Branch Purchase and Sale Transactions:
  A Primer for Bankers
• Choice of Charters
• Client Alert: Bankers Beware: Copying and Removal of Confidential Financial Institution and Supervisory Information Can Lead to FDIC Action
• Client Alert: House Passes Legislation that Includes Important SEC Relief for Community Banks
• “Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,” The Columbus Bar Association Lawyers Quarterly, Winter 2011
• “Reputation Risk,” Extraordinary Banker magazine; Winter, 2011
• “Who is My Constituency?: Bank Directors and the Art of Serving Multiple Masters,” The Ohio Community Banker, December, 2010
• “Bank Incentive Compensation Programs; The Federal Reserve Proposal,” The Ohio Community Banker, December, 2009
• “Selling Problem Loans; Cash for Clunkers,” The Ohio Bankers League Record, Winter, 2009
• “Time for a Governance Tuneup,” The Ohio Community Banker, September 2009