Our Team
Clifford Ashcroft-Smith
Founding Partner
Clifford is a trial lawyer, who represents individuals and corporations in major litigation across the United States. He has won both civil and criminal cases before the United States Court of Appeals, overturned cases against the odds, and prosecuted cases on behalf of the United States Department of Justice. Before founding the firm, Clifford worked for one of the nation’s top criminal defense lawyers and for one of the top plaintiffs firms. His experience includes defending top executives in white-collar global prosecutions, advising and representing global corporations in complex contract disputes, and defending individuals in a variety of criminal cases. As an academic, Clifford specializes in national security and international law. His representative publications include those in the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on National Security Law and the Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice.
In law school, Clifford served as a judicial intern for the Honorable Jennifer Walker Elrod of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He also worked as a law clerk in the Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia. During this time, he served as a federal prosecutor trying countless cases on behalf of the Executive Branch. Before attending law school, Clifford worked for two years in business banking at Wells Fargo & Company in Austin, Texas. In this role, Clifford rebuilt a product banking market spanning more than 45 branches and thousands of employees to rank among the top producing markets in the nation.
Outside of his legal practice, Clifford is an Eagle Scout and a member of the Sam Houston Area Council Eagle Scout Association. He is also a former Olympic Torch Bearer for the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Games.
Education
Washington and Lee University School of Law, J.D., 2009
Editor-in-Chief, Lexington Principles Project
Lead Articles Editor, Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice
Lexington Principles Steering Committee Editorial Award
The University of Texas at Austin, B.A. Government, minor Spanish, 2004
Legislative Intern to the Honorable Dawnna Dukes, Texas House of Representatives, 78th Session
La Universidad de Alicante, Spain, 2002
Bar Admissions
Supreme Court of the United States
State Bar of Texas
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
Publications
What is the Customary Law of War; or Does It Even Matter? 33 National Security Law Report 1, Standing Committee on Law & National Security, American Bar Association (2011)
Rhetoric to Reality: Citizenship Delays and U.S. International Obligations in the Post-9/11 Landscape, Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights & Social Justice 16.2 (2011)
Professional Associations
Houston Bar Association, Litigation, Appellate, Corporate Counsel, Federal Practice Sections
Houston Trial Lawyers Association
State Bar of Texas, Appellate and Litigation Sections
The College of the State Bar of Texas, Member
American Bar Association, Counsel of Appellate Lawyers
American Bar Association, Judicial Division
American Bar Association, Appellate Judges Conference
American Bar Association, Litigation Section
American Association of Intellectual Property Law
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Bar Association of the Fifth Circuit
The Texas Center for Legal Ethics, Member