Kimberly Donaldson Smith
KIMBERLY DONALDSON SMITH is a Partner in the Firm’s Haverford office. Kimberly concentrates her practice on the prosecution of securities fraud class action litigation, shareholder derivative actions and breach of fiduciary duty class action lawsuits. She is also a member of the Firm’s Client Development Group and works closely with the Firm’s institutional clients.
Kimberly is a 1999 cum laude graduate of Villanova University School of Law and is a 1996 graduate of Boston University, where she received a B.A. in Political Science, and interned with the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General, Public Protection Bureau. Kimberly is admitted to practice before the Supreme Courts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and various Federal Appellate and District Courts. Kimberly’s pro bono activities include serving as a volunteer attorney with the Support Center for Child Advocates, a Philadelphia-based, nonprofit organization that provides legal and social services to abused and neglected children.
In 2006, 2007 and 2008, Law & Politics and the publishers of Philadelphia Magazine included Kimberly as a Pennsylvania Rising Star, as listed in the “Pennsylvania Rising Stars Super Lawyers” publication. Only 2.5 percent of the total lawyers in Pennsylvania are listed in Rising Stars.
Kimberly has been involved in prosecuting several federal securities fraud cases, breach of fiduciary duty suits and corporate derivative actions, including the following:
Kimberly has been involved in prosecuting several federal securities fraud cases, breach of fiduciary duty suits and corporate derivative actions, including the following:
City of St. Clair Shores General Employees Retirement System v. Inland Western Retail Real Estate Trust, Inc., et al., Case 07 C 6174 (U.S.D.C. N.D. Ill). On behalf of City of St. Clair Shores General ERS and a proposed class of Inland Western shareholders, on November 1, 2007, C&T filed a federal securities class action complaint alleging violations of the federal securities laws and breaches of fiduciary duty by defendant Inland Western and certain of its current and former directors, officers and affiliates, and its financial advisor, by virtue of their devising and soliciting the shareholders’ approval of a merger of defendants’ affiliate with Inland Western for $375 million worth of the Company's stock. C&T was appointed as Co-Lead Counsel in this action. Plaintiffs vigorously opposed defendants’ motions to dismiss the action, and the court denied in part defendants’ motions. The parties are conducting discovery.
Washtenaw County Employees’ Retirement System v. Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc., et al. Case 1:07-cv-02660 (U.S.D.C. N.D. GA). On behalf of Washtenaw County ERS and a proposed class of Piedmont shareholders, C&T filed in late-2007 a federal securities class action lawsuit against certain directors of Piedmont charging them with violations of the federal securities laws and breaches of fiduciary duties owed to the shareholders by virtue of defendants’ recommendation that shareholders reject a mid-2007 tender offer made for the shareholders’ stock and defendants’ recommendation to shareholders to vote in favor of making a material change to the Company’s charter that would result in a loss of an important benefit to the shareholders (a timely liquidity event). C&T was appointed Co-Lead Counsel. Plaintiffs vigorously opposed defendants’ motions to dismiss the action, and the court denied in part defendants’ motions. The parties are conducting discovery.
Washtenaw County Employees’ Retirement System v. Wells Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc., et. al., Case 1:07-cv-00862 (U.S.D.C. N.D. GA). On behalf of Washtenaw County ERS and a proposed class of Wells REIT shareholders, C&T filed in 2007 a federal securities class action lawsuit against certain current and former officers, directors and affiliates of Wells charging them with violations of the federal securities laws and breaches of fiduciary duties owed to the shareholders by virtue of their of their devising and soliciting the shareholders’ approval of a merger of an affiliate of the company’s insiders with Wells for $175 million worth of the Company's stock. C&T serves as Co-Lead Counsel. C&T vigorously opposed defendants’ motions to dismiss the action, and the court denied, in part, defendants’ motions. The parties have concluded expert and fact discovery, the court certified the action as a Class Action and appointed C&T as co-class counsel, and the parties have filed competing motions for summary judgment.
CNL Hotels & Resorts Inc. Federal Securities Litigation, Case No. 04-cv-1231 (M.D. Fla.). The Firm is lead trial counsel in this settled action filed in 2004 asserting federal securities law claims under the 1933 Securities Act involving a $3.0 Billion real estate investment trust whose stock is not listed on a national stock exchange. The Litigation was settled by: (1) the establishment of a $35,000,000 Cash Settlement Fund for the benefit of the Purchaser Class; and, (2) by CNL entering into revised agreements in connection with a proposed Merger between CNL and its affiliate which Plaintiffs estimate reduced the amount to have been paid by CNL and its stockholders in connection with the merger by over $225 Million. On August 1, 2006, the Federal District Court in Orlando, Florida granted final approval of the Settlement of the CNL Litigation, noting that “Plaintiffs’ counsel pursued this complex case diligently, competently and professionally” and “achieved a successful result.” The Court also concluded that, “a substantial benefit [was] achieved (estimated at approximately $225,000,000)” and “this lawsuit was clearly instrumental in achieving that result.”
In re Real Estate Associates Limited Partnerships Litigation, No. CV 98-7035 DDP (CD. Cal.). The Firm was Lead Trial Counsel in this class action asserting federal securities law claims and claims for state law breaches of fiduciary duty. As the principal trial assistant to Mr. Chimicles, Kimberly was an integral member of the trial team that obtained the first plaintiffs’ jury verdict in a federal securities fraud/breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit tried to a jury in the past ten years. The total verdict of $185 million (including $92.5 million in punitive damages) was among the “Top 10” Verdicts of 2002 and stands as the first and largest jury verdict in favor of plaintiffs in a case brought under the federal securities laws since their amendment in 1995. The Real Estate Associates judgment was settled by an agreement approved by the Court in November 2003 for $83 million, which represented full recovery for the Class (and an amount in excess of the damages calculated by Plaintiffs’ expert). Please refer to Mr. Chimicles’ bio for additional information.
Kimberly has also assisted in the prosecution of actions involving health and welfare issues, including actions to recover excessive charges due to fraud and other misconduct by health service providers, and antitrust claims to recover excessive prescription drug charges and other costs due to corporate collusion and misconduct.