N. Leroy Smith

Practice Areas

Litigation; Trusts & Estates; Commercial/Real Property, Banking/Securities; Employment; Defamation

Career

Leroy is Chair of the Firm’s Private Client and Wealth Management Practice Group, Deputy Chair of the Insolvency and Corporate Restructuring Practice Group, and Partner in the firm’s Litigation Practice Group. He is an Accredited Civil and Commercial Mediator.

Professional Memberships

Bahamas Bar Association;

The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn;

Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists;

Commonwealth Lawyers Association;

International Bar Association;

Publications

Bahamas chapter, International Trust and Divorce Litigation (3rd Edition, 2019)

Clients

His clients include trust companies, private banks, international financial institutions, high-net-worth individuals and a serving Attorney-General of a major onshore jurisdiction. He is regularly instructed by leading international law firms.

Experience

Leroy maintains a broad practice spanning traditional and commercial Chancery work, with a particular emphasis on contentious trusts and estates, real property, company law, and commercial disputes. He also practises defamation and employment law, primarily at appellate and first-instance level in the Supreme Court.

His traditional Chancery practice encompasses trusts, probate, and property litigation, where he is regularly instructed in high-value and complex matters involving breach of trust, fiduciary duty, tracing, and issues concerning the validity and construction of wills and trusts. He also acts in non-contentious private client applications, including directions to trustees, rectification and variation of trusts, and perpetuities applications concerning pre-RAPAA structures.

Leroy’s commercial Chancery work involves shareholder disputes, joint ventures, financial services, banking, and commercial contract litigation. His cases frequently involve allegations of fraud and breach of fiduciary duty, often with an international dimension.

Education