Skip to content

Drew Smith is Counsel at Berenzweig Leonard and joined the firm in March of 2015. At the firm, Drew’s practice focuses on representing professional athletes, as well as handling commercial contracts, corporate transactions and current and former business litigation matters. He also works with the firm’s entertainment law practice, and helps individuals and businesses operating in the professional sports field protect their contract and intellectual property rights and helps them grow new businesses.

In addition to being admitted to the Virginia, Maryland, and District of Columbia Bars, Drew is licensed by the National Football League Players Association as a Certified Contract Advisor. As a Contract Advisor, Drew represents dozens of NFL players, and negotiates contracts with all 32 NFL teams. Drew has significant experience drafting and collaborating on complex business, sports and entertainment contracts for an assortment of sports related clients located throughout the United States.

Prior to joining Berenzweig Leonard, Drew worked in the field of public finance. He represented underwriting clients in both new issue and structured financing in secondary market offerings at a boutique D.C. law firm. Drew also worked as a transactional attorney at a well-regarded Tysons Virginia business law firm. He graduated cum laude from Virginia Tech in 2004 with a B.S. in Business, and earned his law degree from the University of Miami School of Law in 2008.

RECOGNITION AND CERTIFICATIONS

  • Top Attorney, Arlington Magazine, 2025

RECENT REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS

(DISCLAIMER: THERE ARE A VARIETY OF FACTORS UNIQUE TO EACH CASE, AND THE CASE RESULTS STATED BELOW DO NOT GUARANTEE OR PREDICT A SIMILAR RESULT IN ANY FUTURE CASE UNDERTAKEN BY DREW SMITH OR BERENZWEIG LEONARD)

  • Represented credit union against allegations of lending discrimination under the Fair Housing Act, Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Title VI, and Fair Credit Reporting Act. Court granted defendant’s Motion to Dismiss plaintiff’s Amended Complaint and dismissed plaintiff’s claims, in toto, with prejudice. Wilson Ochar v. Apple Federal Credit Union, Case No. 1:24-cv-00757 (E.D. Va. Sept. 3, 2024).
  • Represented financial services, investments, and insurance business against claims of race discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation; motion for summary judgment granted and dismissed Plaintiff’s counts with prejudice. Curtis Clark v. Pacific Advisors, Inc., Case No. 20STCV36673 (Cal. Super. Ct. L.A. Sept. 19, 2022).
  • Represented a multi-specialty engineering firm against 6 claims of disability and age discrimination claims; motion to dismiss granted in full on all counts dismissing entirety of case with prejudice. Tyrone Harrison v. Hillis-Carnes Engineering Associates, Inc., Case No. 1:21-cv-03269 (D.Md. June 13, 2022).
  • Represented defendant insurance agency in lawsuit brought by former employee alleging race discrimination and retaliation; motion for summary judgment granted in full on all counts dismissing entirety of case with prejudice. Faulkner v. Consolidated Insurance Center, Inc., Case No. 24-C-21-000998 (Md. Cir. Ct. Mar. 23, 2022).
  • Represented defendant aviation contractor and former executive in lawsuit by former employer claiming over $71 million in damages alleging breach of fiduciary duty, common law conspiracy, fraud, statutory conspiracy, tortious interference with business relationships and expectancies, conversion, defamation per se, and unjust enrichment; motion to dismiss granted on four counts and successfully limited remaining claims based on statute of limitations. NorthStar Aviation, LLC v. Alberto, 332 F. Supp. 3d 1007, 1014 (E.D. Va. 2018).
  • Defended government contractor and company owner in ownership dispute lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment and claiming over $5 million in damages alleging fraud, securities fraud, and conversion; demurrer granted without prejudice on three counts; plea in bar granted with prejudice on three counts. Johnson v. MBA Consulting Services, Inc., et al., Case No. CL 2017- 9199 (Va. Cir. Ct. 2018).
  • Represented plaintiff real estate firm in lawsuit against anonymous online poster seeking redress for claimed defamatory online reviews; successfully proceeded under Virginia’s unmasking statute to identify claimed online poster and brought claims for tortious interference, defamation, and unjust enrichment; successfully defeated dismissal motion. Optime Realty LLC v. Walsh, Civil Action No. 2017-1966 (Va. Cir. Ct. 2018).

PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

  • Author, “Title VII After Ames: The Supreme Court Unanimously Lowers the Barrier for Reverse Discrimination Claims,” 2025 Fall issue of Employment Practices Liability Consultant by International Risk Management Institute (IRMI).