Grasford W. Smith, born in Kingston, Jamaica, moved to South Florida in the early 1990s. Mr. Smith attended Florida State University (FSU), graduating in three years summa cum laude and second in his major from the College of Business with a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems (MIS). In his final year at FSU, Mr. Smith served as President of the MIS Association and was later inducted into the Seminole Torchbearers, an alumni organization for exceptional student leaders at the university. Mr. Smith was a Dean's Scholarship recipient of the New York University (NYU) School of Law, where he served as Founding Executive Editor of the Journal of Law and Business, Teaching Assistant in “Lawyering” and “Constitutional Law,” Admissions Co-Chair of the NYU Black Law Student Association (BLSA), Attorney General of the Northeast Region of BLSA, and Clinical Student in the Juvenile Rights/Criminal Defense Clinic. Mr. Smith also clerked for a justice in the Bronx Supreme Court and in the legal department of Goldman, Sachs & Co. Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Smith received the Vanderbilt Medal for his outstanding contributions to NYU School of Law, as well as the President's Service Award for Leadership.

Mr. Smith began his legal career as a litigation associate with the Wall Street law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in its New York and Washington, D.C. offices. Mr. Smith now practices with the international law firm Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP in its West Palm Beach office and focuses his practice on complex commercial and probate litigation matters.