Palm Beach Bar Association gets first J’can president

Grasford W. Smith is the new president of the Palm Beach Bar Association, the first Jamaica-born person to hold the position.

Smith, who was born in Kingston and lived in Mountain View area while attending Mico Practising All-Age School, was installed as president of the association for the next year on June 1.

He migrated to the United States in 1993 at age 11 years old and lived in the Palm Beach area for two years before moving to Broward County. He attended both middle and high schools in Broward County. He would later attend West Florida State University obtaining his bachelor of science degree in management and information systems.

After his graduation in 2002 he moved to New York where he attended New York University School of Law where he obtained his law degree in Commercial litigation. While there he served as founding executive editor of the Journal of Law & Business, receiving the Vanderbilt Medal for outstanding contribution to the law school.

“Growing up ... in Mountain View I am familiar with the whole crime situation, but education is the means to lift people out of poverty and give them the tools to create a better life,” he told The Gleaner.

To this end, he has been holding discussions with the principal of Mico Practising All-Age school on setting up a scholarship programme to benefit students.

“People in the diaspora have a role to play in helping to reduce crime and one way to do this is to invest in the future of our children through the provision of scholarships,” he said. The scholarship programme, he says, would have already been implemented had COVID-19 not intervened.

Smith believes too that Jamaica’s crime problem can be solved through investments in inner-city communities, community policing and placing emphasis on education. He maintains that a community policing approach allows the lawmen to become a part of the community - not just there to solve crime but also to render other services.

“They would become one with their communities,” and through this build trust between themselves and members of the community. He believes that the expertise of the diaspora should also be called on to assist in creating crime reduction measures for Jamaica.

For Jamaicans migrating to the United States, his message is that the country offers a world of opportunities that persons may take advantage of to achieve their career and economic goals.

“With the education foundation instilled from Jamaica, young people coming to the United States have the tools to achieve. They need to remain focused, never give up on their goals and take full advantage of the opportunities available,” he said.

Smith, a nationally recognised commercial litigator and adviser, is a Litigation Partner and Litigation Practice Group Leader in the West Palm Beach Office of Akerman.

He is admitted to practice in Florida, New York, Washington, DC, and the United States Supreme Court.

Smith was previously an equity shareholder with a regional law firm in Florida becoming its first African American shareholder in its approximately 100 -year history. He is listed in Best Lawyers in America and is AV Pre-eminent rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

He is the Immediate Past President of the Black Chamber of Commerce of Palm Beach County, and Chair of the Minority Partners in Majority Law Firms Division of the National Bar Association.