Joseph A. Smith, a member of Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP, is widely recognized as a leader in the field of Private Investments in Public Equity (PIPEs) and Registered Direct offerings, where he developed and perfected many of the most commonly used transaction structures including the intra-day and overnight shelf takedown, confidentially marketed public offerings (CMPOs), the self-liquidating convertible debenture and the equity line of credit. Mr. Smith’s clients are mainly investment banks and institutional investment funds, where he and his team facilitate over 100 financing transactions each year, in real time. He also assists broker-dealers with their regulatory issues. Under Mr. Smith’s leadership, Ellenoff Grossman & Schole has been ranked as the No. 1 legal adviser to placement agents every year since 2003.

Mr. Smith spent two years as a Managing Director and registered principal with Ladenburg Thalmann & Co., Inc., structuring and placing PIPE transactions with the then leading team in that business. Mr. Smith has undergraduate and MBA degrees from University of California, Berkeley and a law degree from UCLA. Mr. Smith is a regular speaker on legal issues relating to the PIPE and RD markets at the PIPEs Conference and other venues.