DeMaurice F. Smith
Visiting Lecturer in Law
(spring term)
DeMaurice F. Smith is a Visiting Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School and Executive Director of the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), the union that represents NFL players. At the NFLPA’s helm, he has secured two consequential Collective Bargaining Agreements and negotiated for players throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
FULL BIOGRAPHY
Education & Curriculum Vitae
J.D., University of Virginia School of Law, 1989
B.A., Cedarville College, 1985
Courses Taught
- Law of Sports Leagues
DeMaurice F. Smith is a Visiting Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School and Executive Director of the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), the union that represents NFL players. At the NFLPA’s helm, he has secured two consequential Collective Bargaining Agreements and negotiated for players throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. He previously represented a wide range of corporate and individual clients, including Fortune 500 companies, as a partner at Squire Patton Boggs and Latham & Watkins, LLP. Smith, who spent nearly a decade in public service, served as counsel to then-Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, in which capacity he focused on issues of terrorism, narcotics trafficking, and incarceration. He also prosecuted criminal cases as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, arguing cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Smith is a 1989 graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law and a 1985 graduate of Cedarville College.