Bio

Brian Smith is a partner in the Corporate & Securities Group, where he helps companies anticipate, negotiate and implement strategies involved in all types of capital events. His clients regard him as being a skilled “translator,” with a unique ability to craft easy to digest business decisions from complex sets of legal, tax, and commercial facts and variables. Privately held companies of every size turn to Brian for his creative thought leadership in structuring joint ventures, investment funds, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, among other transactional matters. He advises clients on navigating the waters surrounding the structuring of joint ventures, the formation of investment funds, reorganizations, the acquisition and selling of businesses and transactions involving private equity groups. Additionally, emerging companies frequently turn to Brian to help them devise structures and platforms that foster future growth, attract additional investment and realize valuable exit strategies. A technical tax background propelled Brian’s focus on the structuring of companies and their “life events.” He began his career as a CPA for Arthur Andersen and later worked for the Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service, where he represented the interests of the government before the United States Tax Court. At Fox Swibel, he melds these technical proficiencies with his creativity and experience to help clients develop and execute plans that take into account all of the variables that enter into a company’s capital events –financial, management control, taxation, and personnel to name just a few.