Professionals
Todd W. Smith
Experience
Todd Smith’s practice focuses on complex business litigation in state and federal courts. He represents companies and individuals in partnership disputes, shareholder and derivative litigation, breach of contract and fiduciary duty claims, financial services litigation, real estate disputes, protection of intellectual property rights, trade secrets, and unfair competition claims. Todd also represents law firms and lawyers in legal malpractice actions. He is experienced in all phases of litigation, including trials, arbitrations, mediations, and appeals, as well as regulatory proceedings and internal investigations. Todd recently won a complete defense verdict in a legal malpractice jury trial on behalf of an international law firm.
Todd is an active member of several local and national bar organizations and has written and spoken on a variety of legal topics, including presenting Continuing Legal Education courses on legal ethics and professional responsibility issues. He also serves on the OCBA’s Professionalism and Ethics Committee. Todd is also on the Board of Directors of CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) an organization that supports and advocates on behalf of foster youth in Orange County.
Before joining Umberg/Zipser, Todd was a litigator at two large international law firms where his practice focused on defending businesses in commercial litigation and representing law firms in legal malpractice suits.


EDUCATION
- University of Southern California Law School, J.D., 2002
- University of California, San Diego, B.S., with honors, 1995
BAR ADMISSIONS
- State Bar of California, 2002
- United States District Courts: Northern, Central and Southern Districts of California
- United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
PRACTICE AREAS
- Professional Liability
- Lawyers and Law Firms
- Commercial Litigation
- Securities Litigation
- Class Actions
- Intellectual Property Litigation
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
- Member, American Bar Association, Litigation Section
- Member, Orange County Chapter, Association of Business Trial Lawyers
- Member, Federal Bar Association of Orange County
- Member, Orange County Bar Association
RECENT ARTICLES
- February 2014: Select Broker-Dealer Investment Adviser and Investment Company Enforcement Cases and Developments: 2013 Year in Review
- May 2013: Co-Author, “It Was My Understanding There Would Be No Patent Law!” Why State Court Judges and Legal Malpractice Attorneys Should Dust Off Their Patent Law Books, Orange County Lawyer Magazine.
- February 2013: Select Broker-Dealer Investment Adviser and Investment Company Enforcement Cases and Developments: 2012 Year in Review
- May 2012: Co-Author, Friends with Benefits: When Does Socializing Between the Bench and Bar Warrant Judicial Disqualification?, Orange County Lawyer, Vol. 54, No. 5
- February 2012: Select SEC and FINRA Broker-Dealer Cases and Developments: 2011 Year in Review
- Fall 2011: Recent SEC and SRO Enforcement Developments and Cases Regarding Broker Dealers
- Summer 2011: Taking the Fifth: Practical Considerations for the Civil Lawyer, Federal Bar Association of Orange County Newsletter
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
- October 2020: Co-Presenter, “Ethics and Civility in a Pandemic,” Orange County Bar Association – Workers’ Compensation Section
- September 2020: Co-Presenter, “Avoiding Ethical Pitfalls and Legal Malpractice When Representing Banks and Financial Services Companies,” Orange County Bar Association – Banking & Lending Section
- November 2019: Co-Presenter, “Avoiding Ethical Pitfalls and Legal Malpractice,” Orange County Bar Association
- September 2018: Co-Presenter, “The Rules They Are A-Changing: California’s New Rules of Professional Conduct,” Orange County Bar Association Corporate Counsel Section
- February 2017: Co-Presenter, Avoiding Conflicts of Interest in a Business Representation, Orange County Bar Association, Business and Corporate Law Section
- November 2016: Co-Presenter, “Lobbyists Lawyers, and Privilege, Oh My!,” The Advocacy Group Seminar
- December 2015: Co-Presenter, Legal Ethics – Navigating the Attorney-Client Privilege, Orange County Bar Association