Wendy S. Smith
Managing Partner, Director of Workers' Compensation Practice Group and Director of General Litigation Practice Group

Contact 

P (267) 866-7560
F (215) 600-1303

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Wendy S. Smith

Rated by Super Lawyers

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PRACTICE AREAS

Auto Liability & Motor Vehicle Defense
Aviation
Civil Litigation
Construction Litigation
Employment Law
General Liability
Insurance Defense
Premises Liability
Product Liability
Commercial Vehicle & Trucking

LOCATION

Philadelphia, PA
More about Wendy S. Smith

Notable Cases

  • Whitfield IRE Retroactive Case 6.6.18
  • Quality Care Options v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 57 A.3d 655 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2012).
  • Righter v. W.C.A.B. (Righter Parking), 141 A.3d 628 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2016).

Biography

Wendy S. Smith is a Partner and the Chair of the Northeast Workers’ Compensation Department. Wendy is responsible for defending insurance carriers, self-insured entities and third-party administrators in workers’ compensation, general liability and subrogation matters in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.  

Wendy’s mission is to provide outstanding client service while continuing to strive for the highest standards in legal work.  

She provides counseling and representation to financial institutions and insurance companies as well as local and national businesses in the construction, healthcare, retail, food and beverage, hospitality, staffing, manufacturing and transportation industries. 

Wendy is experienced in all levels of workers’ compensation matters, from higher volume, routine injuries to complex cases involving unique medical, legal or factual circumstances. She has a proven track record of success in obtaining positive jury outcomes, including several major rulings that have saved her clients hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

Even with this trial experience, Wendy works toward resolution whenever possible in the interest of her clients’ goals and budget. By familiarizing herself with her client’s business, Wendy is uniquely able to provide strategic approaches to risk management and alternative dispute resolution options that prevent litigation, reduce clients’ legal costs and limit financial exposure.

Outside of the office, Wendy is active in the legal community. In 2014, her Board Observer Program won awards from the National Council of Bar Foundations and Lexis Nexis Partnerships for Success, naming her project the best bar foundation program in the country.

In her free time, Wendy acts as secretary and board member of Dignity Housing and presides as a judge of the John S. Bradway Philadelphia High School Mock Trial Competition in Philadelphia.

Journal Publications

  • Wendy Smith featured in CLM Magazine for a recent presentation at their CLM WC/RRH Virtual Conference.
  • Wendy Smith was a featured speaker in the ICS webinar series “COVID-19, The Influential & Crucial Global Pandemic”
  • “Measuring the Pain Away in Workers’ Compensation Cases,” ABS “TIPS” Workers’ Compensation and Employer Liability Law Committee Journal, Summer 2013
  • “The New Age of Surveillance and Investigative Tools in Workers’ Compensation Claims,” ABS “TIPS” Workers’ Compensation and Employer Liability Law Committee Journal, Spring 2012
  • “PA: Late Answers By Uninsured Employers – Are They Binding?” ABS “TIPS” Workers’ Compensation and Employer Liability Law Committee Journal, Fall 2011/Winter 2012
  • “Building a Workers’ Compensation Defense Arsenal in a World of Mistrust,” Pennsylvania Self-Insurers’ Association November 2009 Newsletter and ABS “TIPS” Workers’ Compensation and Employer Liability Law Committee Journal, Spring 2010
  • The Illegal Employee in the World of Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation,”ABS “TIPS” Workers’ Compensation and Employer’s Liability Law Committee Journal, Summer 2008

 Presentations: 

  • “#RiskManagementIsWatchingYou: Tweeting, Hashtagging, and SnapChatting Through the Trove of Social Media Avenues,” CLM Annual Workers’ Compensation Conference (2019)
  • “The Uphill Battle in the War on Drugs: Navigating an Attack on the Opioid Minefield,” CLM Annual Conference (2018) 
  • “Nonprofit Startups: Guiding a Nonprofit from Idea to Reality,” Philadelphia Bar Association (2015)
  • New York
  • New Jersey
  • Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

 

  • “Critical Critiques of Claims Management in the Covid-19 Environment,” ICS Covid-19 Webinar Series – Series No. 2, June 3, 2020.
  • “The Drones Have It – Flying Your Way into Work Comp,” CLM Workers Compensation, Retail Restaurant and & Hospitality Conference – June 18, 2020
  • Philadelphia Bar Foundation/Young Lawyers Division Board Observer Program, Co-Chair
  • Asian American Women’s Coalition, Advisory Board Member
  • Philadelphia Bar Association, Philadelphia County Judge Pro Tem, Certified Arbitrator
  • The Philadelphia Young Lawyers Division Andrew Hamilton Circle
  • Alexander F. Barbieri Workers’ Compensation Inn of Court
  • Philadelphia Bar Foundation Crystal Award recipient, 2014
  • Thompson Reuters “Super Lawyer,” 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
  • Super Lawyers “Rising Star,” 2012, 2013, 2014, 2021
  • The Legal Intelligencer’s “Lawyers on the Fast Track,” 2012
  • Philadelphia Bar Association
  • Co-Chair of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation/Young Lawyers Division Board Observer Program
  • Secretary, Board of Director of Dignity Housing
  • Advisory Board Member of Asian American Women’s Coalition
  • Preside as a judge of the John S. Bradway Philadelphia High School Mock Trial Competition
  • Certified Arbitrator of the Philadelphia Bar Association,
  • Philadelphia County Judge Pro Tem
  • Member of the Asian American Bar Association
  • Member of the Alexander F. Barbieri Workers’ Compensation Inn of Court
  • The Philadelphia Young Lawyers Division Andrew Hamilton Circle
  • J.D., Roger Williams University School of Law, 2005
  • B.S., Albright College, 1999

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