Profile

Following a four-year stint with the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps, including two years as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, John Smart has devoted his practice to the representation of management in traditional labor, employment and immigration law matters. Board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, John has extensive first-chair experience in the defense of claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, Occupational Safety and Health Act and National Labor Relations Act. He also handles all forms of common law employment claims, including actions for unfair competition, violations of non-competition and employment agreements, and claims for defamation, tortious interference with contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress and other tort actions. In addition, John devotes a significant amount of time to human resources counseling, negotiation and drafting of employment and severance agreements, and the preparation and review of employee handbooks and personnel policies.

Apart from his litigation and counseling practice, John is a member of the firm's immigration law practice, which involves obtaining both immigrant and nonimmigrant visas for key foreign employees of firm clients. John and his staff are well versed in the procedures for obtaining visas for employee's specialty occupations, intracompany transferees, multinational executives and managers, and treaty and trade investors.

Representative Experience

• Defense of single, multiplaintiff and class action discrimination claims
• Prosecution and defense of unfair labor practices under the NLRA
• Client counseling in human resources and personnel matters
• Preparation and review of employment policies and handbooks
• Immigrant and nonimmigrant visa petitions (H-1B, L-1, E, J, K, TN, blanket petitions, permanent residency, labor certification and reduction in recruitment requests)