Thomas Benton Smith (November 12, 1952 - September 7, 2023) was an American judge serving for 20 years in the federal and state courts of Florida.
Smith's goal was to "give Orlando-area businesses greater certainty, consistency and efficiency in the courtroom -- with judges who know business law, make consistent rulings and move cases through the system quickly.
In 2009, Smith himself served as the Ninth Circuit's Business Court judge.
[14] Smith was considered "a pioneer known both statewide and nationally for his cutting edge innovations in the field of business litigation[,]" in part based on his expertise in addressing developing technologies and electronic discovery.
[15][16][17][18] More generally to all cases, Smith provided the following advice in a 2019 federal judicial order, on how opponents should and should and should not communicate during the litigation process: "Both sides need to learn that frequently the best response to immature behavior is to ignore it.
"[19] Smith was admitted to the Florida bar in 1978, and began his legal career as a solo practitioner that same year.
In 1982, he became a business litigator at the private law firm of Maguire, Voorhis & Wells, P.A.