Newswise — College Park, Md. -- The University of Maryland will welcome DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), as the 2011 Spring Commencement speaker. The fourth leader in the union's 41-year history, Smith represents approximately 1,700 NFL players in the collective bargaining union, which is currently negotiating a billion-dollar collective bargaining agreement with league owners.
Prior to his nomination to the NFLPA, Smith was a trial attorney and litigation partner at Patton Boggs in Washington, D.C. He has chaired the firm's Government Investigations and White-Collar Practice Group and concentrated his work on white-collar criminal defense and tort liability trials. A resident of Bethesda, Md., Smith has defended individuals in high profile criminal cases and Congressional investigations, while also representing Fortune 500 companies in criminal and complex civil cases, compliance matters, and internal investigations.
Before entering private practice, Smith served as counsel to then Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). His work focused on national security issues, congressional relations, and DOJ budget and finance allocation. He was also responsible for the development of business and strategic plans for prison construction, as well as budget development and component management of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Marshals Service. Smith has also held senior positions in the felony trial, violent crime, community prosecution, and transnational and major crime sections for nearly a decade at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.
He is the recipient of the United States Attorney Generals' Award and the John Evans Trial Advocacy Award from the United States Attorney's Association. Smith is a member of the Board of Directors of the Good Samaritan Foundation, a philanthropic organization that seeks to aid inner city youth in Washington D.C. In 2010, Smith was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers.
Smith is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law and received his bachelor's degree in political science from Cedarville University in Ohio.
The University of Maryland Spring 2011 Commencement ceremony will take place on Thursday, May 19 at 10 a.m. at Comcast Center. Individual school and college ceremonies will take place on Thursday, May 19 and Friday, May 20, 2011.
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