Lee Smith

Lee Smith is a Partner in Dentons' Capital Markets practice group, based in the New York office, practicing in Banking and Finance Law. He focuses on all aspects of commercial lending and loan recovery activity, with extensive experience advising on US and cross-border matters in Europe and Asia. He also advises borrowers, lenders, sellers, and buyers on cross-border trade finance and liquidity facilities for originators of residential mortgage loans.

Prior to joining Dentons, Mr. Smith spent more than a decade as in-house counsel with JPMorgan Chase in Hong Kong and New York, focusing on commercial loan recovery and debt restructuring. He has advised on significant transactions including representing Unitil Corporation in its US$55.8 million acquisition of water distribution companies, advising Sierra Metals in connection with a US$95 million credit agreement, representing a British multinational bank as lead arranger in a US$525 million asset-based secured multi-currency facility, and representing a medical device company in a $67.5 million senior term loan facility. He also served as co-chair of the Steering Committee of Foreign Creditors in the restructuring of the Korean conglomerate Daewoo Group.

He holds a J.D. from SUNY Buffalo Law School (1985), where he was a Senior Editor of the Buffalo Law Review, and a B.A., cum laude, from St. Lawrence University (1982). He was named a "Stand Out Lawyer" for Capital Markets by Thomson Reuters in 2026.