Robert K. Smith

Practice Areas

Mr. Smith leads the firm’s REIT capital markets practice and has close to 25 years of experience in advising REITs, funds and other real estate companies in various asset classes, including mortgage, office, industrial, land-banking, data center, retail, and self-storage companies. Mr. Smith advises on a broad range of capital markets, securities, governance, M&A and SEC compliance matters. Mr. Smith has represented both issuers and underwriters in numerous capital markets transactions, including IPOs, follow-on offerings, 144A offerings and other private placements. Mr. Smith also has significant REIT M&A experience and is a trusted advisor to multiple REIT boards of directors. He has acted as an industry expert witness in REIT-related proceedings.

Mr. Smith has been counsel in hundreds of securities offerings by REITs (including the then-largest ever non-rated public offering of REIT preferred stock). He leads several engagements for publicly traded REITs, including some of the largest publicly traded mortgage REITs, and he is either issuer’s or underwriter’s counsel for a significant portion of all U.S. listed mortgage REITs. Mr. Smith also acts as outside corporate counsel on a pro bono basis to a national, real estate-focused, non-profit organization dedicated to furthering real estate education in various U.S. cities.