Executive Director

DeMaurice Smith

DeMaurice Smith was elected by the Board of Player Representatives in March 2009 as the new Executive Director of the NFL Players Association.

Previously, he was a trial lawyer and litigation partner at D.C. law firm Patton Boggs, where he concentrated on white-collar criminal defense and tort liability trials. He was also Chair of the firm’s Government Investigations and White-Collar Practice Group. He has argued numerous cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. In addition, he has defended individuals in high profile criminal cases and Congressional investigations while also representing Fortune 500 companies in criminal and complex civil cases, compliance matters, and internal investigations. He also represented Halliburton, Shell Motor Company and Ford Motor Company during his career.

Smith previously served as Counsel to then Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder in the U.S. Department of Justice before entering private practice. His duties revolved around national security issues, congressional relations, and DOJ budget and finance allocation. He was also responsible for the development of business and strategic plans for prison construction, as well as budget development and component management of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Marshals Service.

Prior to his work at the Department of Justice, Smith held senior positions in the Felony Trial, Violent Crime, Community Prosecution and Transnational and Major Crime Sections for nearly a decade at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. He prosecuted more than 80 jury trials and handled some of the most significant Homicide, Narcotics and White Collar investigations in the history of the office.

Smith has earned numerous honors throughout his career, including the United States Attorney Generals’ Award and the John Evans Trial Advocacy Award from the United States Attorney’s Association. He has served on the Board of Governors of the D.C. Bar Association, and is the former president of the Assistant United States Attorney’s Association. He also sits on the Board of Directors of the Good Samaritan Foundation, a philanthropic organization founded by former NFL players Art Monk, Earnest Byner, Tim Johnson and Charles Mann. The foundation seeks to aid inner city youth in Washington D.C. with their educations and job opportunities. In October, he was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Smith is a graduate of the University Of Virginia School Of Law and received his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Cedarville University, a Christian college in Ohio. A four-year member of the Varsity Track and Field Team at Cedarville, he was a National Christian College National Champion during his senior year. Smith teaches classes on trial advocacy at the University of Virginia, George Washington University and American University, and has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, NBC, Court-TV and Fox. He currently resides in Silver Spring, Md., with his wife and two children.