John Smither’s practice primarily focuses on eminent domain matters, energy and land use litigation, and commercial litigation.
John routinely represents clients who exercise the power of eminent domain to acquire temporary and permanent easements for common carrier and gas utility transmission and lateral lines. He has represented numerous pipeline companies and electric utilities condemning for right-of-way on interstate and intrastate projects traversing the State of Texas. He has experience handling matters for condemnors in all phases of the condemnation process including survey access, initial and final offers, special commissioners’ hearings in the administrative phase, and right to take and damage issues in the judicial phase.
John also has extensive litigation experience handling personal injury and product liability cases, including complex, multi-party, multi-district product cases. He also handles matters involving commercial disputes and premises liability. John has been Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 2009.
- South Texas College of Law Houston, J.D., 1993
- Vanderbilt University, B.A., 1990
Bar Admissions
- Texas
Courts
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
- U.S. Supreme Court
- AV Preeminent-rated, Martindale-Hubbell