Christopher Smith Of Counsel
Christopher “Chris” Smith is a native Floridian born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in Broward County. He is a 1992 graduate of Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte North Carolina and 1995 graduate of the Florida State University College of Law. Chris began his legal career with the firm of Tripp Scott from the years 1994 to 1998 practicing in Land Use and Contract Law. He then practiced with the firm of Johnson Anselmo et al. until 2016 where his practice included defending Governmental and Private Corporate Entities, including their employees, as well as numerous police agencies in actions brought in State and Federal Courts located in Broward, Dade, Monroe and Palm Beach Counties.
Senator Chris Smith began his public service in 1995 when he was appointed to the City’s Planning and Zoning Board. At a time of tremendous development within the City of Fort Lauderdale, Sen. Smith fought to seek a balance between the need for economic development and the rights of existing property or homeowners. In 1996, Chris founded the Ft. Lauderdale, FL Community Redevelopment Association and was Chairman of that organization until 2000. In 1998 Sen. Smith was elected to the Florida House of Representatives serving the City of Fort Lauderdale and six surrounding municipalities. In his third term he was elected Democratic Leader of the Florida House of Representatives. After being term limited out of the House of Representatives, Sen. Smith was elected to the Florida Senate in 2008 representing Broward and Palm Beach County. After redistricting, Sen. Smith represented 14 municipalities in Central Broward County. In only the third year of his first term he was once again elected Democratic Leader of his chamber. This accomplishment of serving as Democratic Leader of the House and Senate has only been done by a few members of these August bodies. As a Democratic Leader, Sen. Smith once again was effective in setting policy on local and statewide issues.
From 2017 through 2019 Chris served as Legislative Counsel to the Broward Legislative Delegation. His principal responsibilities included ensuring the efficient operation of the legal responsibilities of the Delegation. In this role, Chris also researched, analyzed, and drafted local legislation incorporating appropriate policies which, when enacted, enabled state and local governments to carry out its functions. He provided legal analyses of local bills presented to the Delegation and acted as the Delegation’s legal representative at meetings of interest groups and consultative bodies to provide information and explanations of existing and proposed legislation. In 2021, Chris joined the Pittman Law Group, P.L. to assist in their local government legal practice, focusing on South Florida municipalities.