Vanessa L. Smith

Born: East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, 1966

Education: Wells College, B.A., magna cum laude, 1988, Syracuse University College of Law, J.D., cum laude, 1991

Practice Areas: Health Law; Litigation

Membership: Massachusetts (Member: Health Law Section; Health Law Section Council; Co-Editor, Health Law Section Review) and American (Member, Health Law Section) Bar Associations; American Health Lawyers Association

Admissions: 1992, New York; 2000, Massachusetts

Miscellaneous Information: Law Clerk to the Honorable Rosemary S. Pooler, United States District Court for the Northern District of New York and United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Court Attorney, New York Court of Appeals. Assistant Corporation Counsel, City of Syracuse, New York. Assistant Attorney General, State of New York. Adjunct Professor, Legal Studies Department, Bay Path College.

Biography:

Vanessa L. Smith practices primarily in the firm’s Health Law Practice Group and also is a member of the Schools, Colleges, and Universities Practice Group and Litigation/ADR Department. Her practice includes the representation of health care providers, including hospitals, provider practice groups, managed care organizations, and integrated delivery systems, in an array of regulatory, risk management, medical staff, and litigation matters. Her medical staff expertise includes matters related to the corrective action, fair hearing, and appellate review processes, including medical peer review issues and provider reporting obligations. Ms. Smith is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association and the Health Law Sections of the American Bar Association and the Massachusetts Bar Association. She has served as a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association Health Law Section Council and as co-editor for the Health Law Section Review. Ms. Smith has given presentations at legal seminars and to health care providers on topics including patient confidentiality and medical peer review issues.

Ms. Smith is a magna cum laude graduate of Wells College and received her law degree, cum laude, in 1991 from Syracuse University College of Law. From 1997 to 1999, Ms. Smith was a law clerk to the Honorable Rosemary S. Pooler, first at the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York and then at the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She also has served as a Court Attorney for the New York Court of Appeals. As an Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Syracuse, New York, and as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of New York, she tried civil cases in state and federal court and briefed and argued appeals in state court.

Ms. Smith has been an adjunct professor in the Legal Studies Department at Bay Path College. She serves as a volunteer with, and provides legal services to, several non-profit organizations in the Pioneer Valley. She speaks fluent French.