Mary L. Smith is Special Counsel & Estate Trust Officer at the Office of Special Deputy Receiver in Chicago, Illinois where she helps manage over 23 entities with approximately $1.5 billion in assets. Previously, she was General Counsel at the Illinois Department of Insurance and part of the senior management team. In this position, Ms. Smith oversaw the Legal Department and, in fiscal year 2013, oversaw the Market Conduct Section, one of the major regulatory functions of the Department of Insurance. Ms. Smith was responsible for coordinating the legal aspects of establishing a health care exchange in Illinois, developing plans for troubled companies, and leading major regulatory settlements that benefit Illinois consumers.

Ms. Smith has also served as Counselor in the Civil Division at the United States Department of Justice. In her work in the Civil Division, Ms. Smith focused on national security, consumer protection, constitutional issues, and legislative matters. She has also spearheaded a reorganization and reinvigoration of the Consumer Protection Branch, which handles consumer litigation including matters involving international fraud schemes.

While in the private sector, Ms. Smith was a Partner in the Chicago office of Schoeman, Updike & Kaufman, a women-owned firm, and an attorney at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Washington, D.C. While at Skadden, Ms. Smith specialized in governmental investigations and securities class actions.

Earlier in her career, Ms. Smith served as Senior Litigation Counsel at Tyco International (US) Inc. where she managed the securities class action multi-district litigation relating to the Dennis Kozlowski era – the largest case pending at the Company and one of the largest cases pending in the country. As part of her responsibilities, Ms. Smith managed an over $60 million dollar budget and inside and outside counsel.

Ms. Smith has worked at the highest levels of government including serving in the Clinton White House as Associate Counsel to the President and Associate Director of Policy Planning where she was responsible for a number of policy areas.

In addition to her legal activities, Ms. Smith served on the American Bar Association’s Board of Governors, and is President of the National Native American Bar Association. She has completed the Stanford Law School’s Directors’ College as well as Women’s Director Development Program at Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. Ms. Smith graduated from the University of Chicago School of Law, cum laude, where she was a member of the Law Review. She received a B.S., magna cum laude, from Loyola University of Chicago. Ms. Smith is Native American and is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation.