Terry D. Smith is the senior partner in the firm and a life-long resident of Western New York. He attended Bethany College in West Virginia and received his law degree from the University of Buffalo Law School in 1966, after being honored for excellence in Trial Technique. He was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1966 and admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Western District of New York in 1970. He has been engaged in preparation and trial of personal injury and wrongful death actions in federal and state courts in Western and Central New York for over 40 years and has handled numerous appeals in the Appellate Division of New York State Supreme Court and the New York State Court of Appeals.

Mr. Smith has served as president of the Erie County and Western New York Trial Lawyers’ Associations, and on the Board of Directors of those associations as well as the Erie County Bar Association. He was elected to membership in the American College of Trial Lawyers in his first year of eligibility, 1982. He has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America since its initial publication in 1983.  He was a Charter Member of the Western New York Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates, has received a “New York Super Lawyer” designation and is listed in the Business First/Buffalo Law Journal publication Who's Who in Law.  He has long held an “av” rating from Martindale Hubbell. After achieving a record 11.4 million dollar verdict in Genesee County, he was selected as "Litigator of the Month" by the National Law Journal.  In 2012, he was named as the "Buffalo Medical Malpractice Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers in America.   Best Lawyers designated just one lawyer from each community as "Lawyer of the Year" in each specialty following exhaustive and confidential surveys of thousands of leading lawyers. 

Mr. Smith's current memberships include the Erie County Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, the American Board of Trial Advocates and the American Association for Justice. He served as an instructor in the course of Trial Technique at the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law and has lectured at numerous seminars.

You may contact Mr. Smith by e-mail at tsmith@smithminerlaw.com or by telephone at 716-855-3611.