Louis Smith

Smith Partners, P.L.L.P.

Louis N. Smith is a senior attorney whose practice is devoted to public law and government litigation. He has represented governmental agencies and private clients in a wide variety of federal, state, and local proceedings. In 1991-92, Mr. Smith served as Deputy Hennepin County Attorney, where he was second in command of an office of 125 attorneys responsible for felony prosecution and civil representation of Hennepin County.

Mr. Smith has extensive experience in urban development and the planning and implementation of public infrastructure improvements. He represented the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority in Hollman v. Cisneros, which resulted in a landmark settlement providing $100 million from HUD for the redistribution of public housing in the Twin Cities. He has counseled the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District in structuring the Minneapolis Chain of Lakes Clean Water Partnership, which is undertaking the largest urban lake restoration project in the United States and has received three environmental awards.

Mr. Smith has broad experience in structuring public-private partnerships, and providing strategic counsel to clients confronting a wide array of public policy challenges. He counsels Honeywell, Allina Health Systems, Children's Hospitals and Clinics, and Fannie Mae in a partnership with local government that focuses on safety, jobs, and housing, and infrastructure for the Minneapolis Phillips neighborhood. He is also counsel to a consortium of local government and corporate partners created to guide the redevelopment of the Midtown-Lake Street Corridor in Minneapolis. Mr. Smith serves as counsel for a statewide task force to develop a strategic plan for criminal justice and drug policy convened by Public Safety Commissioner Charlie Weaver. 

Since 1994, Mr. Smith has been named by the Minnesota Guidebook for Law and Leading Attorneys as one of the 19 leading attorneys in Minnesota specializing in urban and local government. Since 1995, he has received the Martindale-Hubbell "AV" rating, the highest rating members of the bar bestow upon their peers.

Mr. Smith graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1979 from St. Olaf College, and graduated cum laude in 1983 from the University of Minnesota Law School, where he was an associate editor of the Minnesota Law Review. He was a law clerk to the Honorable Gerald W. Heaney, United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Mr. Smith received the Chief's Award of Merit from the Minneapolis Police Department in 1992 for his contributions to law enforcement. He received the Minnesota Human Rights Volunteer Award in 1987. He is a member of the Hennepin County, Minnesota, and American Bar Associations.