About Joseph Smith

Joseph “Jodie” E. Smith is a securities and finance attorney. He is currently a partner at Maynard Cooper & Gale, based in Birmingham, Ala. Maynard Cooper & Gale also has offices in New York, California and Washington, D.C. Smith, a public finance attorney with more than 23 years of experience, serves as chairman of the firm’s public finance group.

Specializing in finance and securities transactions, Smith advises government, nonprofit and for-profit organizations on taxable and tax-exempt financings, serving as bond, disclosure, issuer’s and underwriter’s counsel. Smith focuses on corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganization, joint ventures and partnerships. He also advises clients on new markets tax credits, deals eligible for the federal Opportunity Zone program, and economic development incentives, including tax revenue sharing arrangements with state and local governments.

Before joining Maynard Cooper & Gale in 2002, Smith was an associate with King & Spalding in Atlanta. Prior to that, he worked for Bradley Arant Boult Cummings in Alabama. Smith is a member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers board of directors, the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Georgia and Alabama State Bar.

Smith has been recognized since 2010 by Chambers USA as one of America’s leading lawyers in business banking and finance. He has also been recognized by Best Lawyers in America for public finance law and by Super Lawyers for government finance. Smith received a Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He earned a master’s degree from the University of Glasgow in Scotland and a bachelor’s degree from Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama.