Randolph L. Smith, Esq.

In August 2007, Randy and John Lakin opened Lakin Smith, P.A. in downtown Bradenton, Florida.  Presently, Randy focuses his practice on first-party property insurance claims and coverage disputes, business and commercial litigation, and estate and trust litigation.

Randy graduated from the Nichols School, Buffalo, New York, cum laude, in 1969, and received his A.B., cum laude, from Harvard University in 1973.  In 1976, Randy received his J.D.  from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law.  Randy is rated “AV” by the Martindale-Hubbell peer review rating service, signifying that his peers rank him at the highest level of professional excellence.

Randy practiced banking and real estate law for one year in Buffalo at Little and Burt, and from 1977 until 1986, Randy practiced at the firm of Copeland, Hession, Grindle & Robinson in Wellesley, Massachusetts.  As an associate and partner (1984) at Copeland, Hession, Randy engaged in a general civil practice which included corporate and real estate law, commercial and construction litigation, and insurance defense.

In May 1986, Randy became associated with the firm of Burns & Levinson in Boston, where he specialized in asbestos-in-buildings and asbestos personal injury litigations.  Randy became a member of the firm in January 1990.  While at Burns & Levinson, Randy handled all aspects of the Massachusetts asbestos-in-buildings litigation for five separate corporate clients and served as liaison counsel for a 30-plus member defense group with responsibilities for the formulation and implementation of joint defense strategies and for court appearances on behalf of the defense group.

Randy joined Peabody & Arnold in Boston in April 1993, as a partner, and was active in the firm’s management, serving as Co-Chair of the Litigation Department from 1994 to 1998, and as Co-Chair of the Business Litigation Group from 2000 to 2002.  In addition, Randy served on the firm’s Hiring Committee, and was one of the two partner members of the firm’s Associates Committee. 

At Peabody & Arnold, Randy’s practice encompassed all aspects of civil litigation with an emphasis on estates and trusts and business disputes.  Randy was an adjunct member of, and worked closely with, the firm’s Private Client Group handling a wide variety of estate, probate and fiduciary matters.  His cases ran the gamut and included will contests, suits by and against executors and trustees, complaints for instructions, contested accounting proceedings, disputes involving family limited partnerships, and claims against sureties on fiduciary bonds.  Randy’s business litigation cases included fidelity and surety bond claims and construction disputes, as well as, the prosecution and defense of claims involving trademarks, trade secrets and non-competition agreements.

With their two children in college, Randy and his wife, Olivia, moved to Florida in August 2003.  In September, Randy became counsel to the firm of Butler Pappas Weimueller Katz Craig, LLP in Tampa.  There, his practice focused on complex business and commercial litigation in both state and federal court, including anti-trust matters.  In November 2005, Randy joined John Lakin at Barnes Walker & Lakin, Chartered, in Bradenton, and in August 2007, they formed Lakin Smith, P.A.

Randy is a member of the Florida Bar, the state bars of New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the American Bar Association and both the Manatee and Sarasota County Bar Associations.  He has also been admitted to practice before the U.S. Tax Court, the First Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States District Courts for the Districts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, for the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Florida, and for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.