Robert T. Smith heads the Finance and Commercial Transactions Practice Group and serves on the firm’s Management Committee. His diverse corporate practice focuses on representing companies and financial institutions in general business, transactional, securities and regulatory matters. He has handled transactions in a variety of areas including the banking, healthcare, real estate and technology industries.

In the banking area, Robert advises clients on regulatory compliance, merger and acquisition transactions, lending, and capital raising activities. He assists clients in private equity and corporate finance matters, the offering of debt and equity securities, and counseling directors and executive officers regarding fiduciary duties and corporate governance issues. Robert also regularly represents professionals and professional firms in the formation, expansion, merger, and division of professional practices.

• University of Florida College of Law, LL.M. in Taxation, 2001
  • Graduate Editor, Florida Tax Review
• University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law, J.D., With Honors, 1999
  • Associate Editor, Law Review
• University of Arkansas at Little Rock, B.S., With Honors, Accounting, 1996

• Certified Public Accountant (Registered Inactive), Arkansas
• Listed in The Best Lawyers in America, since 2013
  • Securities/Capital Markets Law
  • Tax Law
  • Corporate Law
  • Banking and Finance Law
  • Mergers and Acquisitions Law
  • Named "Lawyer of the Year"
    • Banking and Finance Law, Little Rock, 2020, 2026
    • Securities and Capital Markets Law, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2026
• Named by Arkansas Business and Little Rock Soirée, "Best Lawyers in Little Rock," Tax, 2017
• Named to 40 Under 40 list, Arkansas Business, 2013
• Ranked in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers  Business, Corporate/Commercial
• Selected to the Mid-South Super Lawyers List, 2019
  • Rising Star, 2008
• Voted by the readers of AY Magazine for inclusion in the “Best Lawyers in Arkansas,” Tax Law, 2018
• Publication: 
  • Dodd-Frank: "What Every Community Banker Should Know," November 2010 edition of The Arkansas Banker
  • Small Business Lending Fund Program, February 2011 edition of The Arkansas Banker
  • JOBS Act, Guest Column, Arkansas Business, April 9, 2015
  • Crowd Funding, Expert Advice, Arkansas Business, November 23, 2015
  • Creating Liquidity for Shareholders, Arkansas Business, June 18, 2018
  • Arkansas Banks and Marijuana, Arkansas Business, April 15, 2019
  • Acquire or Be Acquired?, Arkansas Business, February 17, 2020
  • Changing Jobs in Banking? Be Aware, Arkansas Business, July 19, 2021
  • GENIUS Opportunity: The Genius Act, Arkansas Business, August 25, 2025

• American Bar Association
• American Heart Association – Central Arkansas, Member of Corporate Committee, 2012-2013
• Arkansas Bar Association, Tax Section; Chairman, 2008-2009
• Arkansas Society of Certified Public Accountants (ASCPA), Taxation Committee; Federal Tax Institute Committee, Co-Chair 2006, 2008
• Arkansas Rice Depot, Board of Directors, 2003-2008
• Arkansas Urology Foundation, Board of Directors, 2019 -2025
• Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), Board of Directors, 2012-2018
• Leadership Arkansas, Class IV
• Risk Management Association, Board of Directors, 2014-2020

• Arkansas, 1999