Rick Smith is a second generation Floridian and has been litigating for approximately 25 years or more in North and Central Florida. In 1994, he graduated from the FSU College of Law in Tallahassee and obtained his J.D. with High Honors. From there he practiced law in Jacksonville handling primarily criminal defense matters, employment lawsuits, and appeals in both areas. In 1999, attorney he and his family moved to Orlando, and he has been serving and representing clients throughout Central Florida in a wide array of civil matters including employment disputes, commercial and consumer contract disagreements, ADA accessibility matters, workplace discrimination and retaliation disputes, wage and hour concerns, non-compete agreement enforcement and defense whether relating to employment or independent contractor situations.
In addition to addressing Employment & Labor law, Richard Smith also assists clients with personal injury claims such as product liability and wrongful death matters, premises liability lawsuits such as slip and fall, dog and animal attacks, and negligent security, automobile and trucking accidents. Rick is admitted to try cases throughout Florida including all three of the federal civil districts, i.e., Middle, Southern and Northern Districts of Florida. Since 2012, he has consistently maintained an AV rating which is the highest rating granted attorneys under the Martindale-Hubbell system and which indicates his peers rank him to be practicing law at the highest levels of excellence.
In addition to the previous award , Richard Smith has been recognized as a Super Lawyer every year since 2016 in the area of Employment and Labor Law. Super Lawyers is an exclusive list of top-rated attorneys in specific practice areas who were chosen after thorough evaluation of numerous criteria. In 2010, Rick was certified by the Florida Supreme Court as a Circuit Civil Mediator and conducts private party and court ordered Mediations. He is also certified by the Florida Supreme Court as a County Civil Mediator and is approved to conduct mediations in federal civil cases in the Middle District of Florida.