Jock M. Smith was a co-founder, National Partner, and President of The Cochran Firm. During his career, Jock worked on a number of high-profile and precedent-setting cases. He was dedicated to assisting victims in getting large settlements, and took on some of the most powerful corporations of his time, including Orkin, Monsanto, and Southwestern Life Insurance. In fact, the verdict he obtained against Southwestern Life Insurance was reported as the single largest verdict in the nation in the National Law Journal and Lawyers Weekly USA, and remains the largest civil verdict obtained by an African American lawyer in the nation’s history.

Jock was the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions including the keys to the cities of New Orleans, Memphis and Flint.
Additional distinctions include:
• Recognition by the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association
• The Million Dollar Advocates Forum
• Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. Journey to Justice Award, 2005, at the National Bar Association Convention
• AV Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
• America’s Top 500 Trial Litigators, 2006 and 2007, Legal Magazine
• Who’s Who in Black Lawyers in New York, 2009
• Lifetime member of Superior Lawyers of America
• Board of Trustees of Tuskegee University, 2011

Shortly before his passing on January 8, 2012, Jock was selected by The Trial Lawyer as one of the 100 Most Influential Trial Lawyers in America.