Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP
PeopleServices

Menu

  • People
  • Services
  • Resources
  • Locations
  • Careers
  • About
  • Contact
New Hampshire Joins Data Protection Trend, Passes Comprehensive Data Protection Law
  1. People

Elliot M. Smith

Partner
Cleveland
T.
216.363.6165
liamE

Elliot has a broad and versatile corporate, litigation, and finance practice built on extensive experience representing and counseling clients in the corporate insolvency, distressed lending and investing, restructuring, and bankruptcy contexts, including in complex chapter 11 cases throughout the country.

His clients include debtors, creditors’ committees, secured lenders, indenture trustees, unsecured creditors, asset purchasers, executive management teams, landlords, and preference defendants, among other parties in interest. His experience extends to a variety of industries, including steel, mining, automotive, senior living, restaurant, retail, e- commerce, manufacturing, and oil and gas.

Elliot also has extensive experience representing and counseling his creditor clients in connection with exercising rights and remedies under the Uniform Commercial Code, formulating strategies for responding to customer and supplier distress, and in connection with minimizing insolvency related risk. In the distressed M&A context, his experience includes representing and counseling bidders and purchasers in section 363 bankruptcy sales, as well as in out-of-court transactions involving aspects of insolvency risk and related strategic considerations. Elliot’s fifteen years of experience and his ability to bring to bear a broad mix of legal skills has uniquely positioned him to be able to provide quick and thoughtful analysis, strategic advice, and good counsel to his clients in very stressful circumstances.

Elliot has written and lectured on various bankruptcy and restructuring related topics, and has had his analysis and commentary published in numerous industry publications, including Bankruptcy: Law360, The Bankruptcy Strategist, Norton Bankruptcy Law Advisor, Practical Law, and the Pratt Journal of Bankruptcy Law.

Elliot was selected as a member of the Next Generation Program of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, Class of 2012, which recognizes 40 up and coming bankruptcy practitioners with five to 10 years of experience. He was selected as an “Associate to Watch” in Chambers USA 2019 and has been consistently recognized in Ohio Super Lawyers – Rising Stars, a listing of the top 2.5% of lawyers in the state age 40 or younger, or in practice 10 years or less. Elliott is also recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® 2016-2023 in the areas of Bankruptcy, Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law.

*Matter completed prior to joining Benesch.

Representative Experience

  • Counsel to the debtors and debtors in possession in the Chapter 11 cases of In re OGGUSA, Inc. et al. (E.D. Kentucky) (f/k/a GenCanna Global USA, Inc.).  The Debtors were primarily engaged in the development of hemp genetics and the production and distribution of wholesale and white-label hemp-derived cannabinoid products, including CBD, to customers throughout the United States and internationally.  The Debtors successfully conducted an expedited dual-track process to identify available alternatives for maximizing value under challenging circumstances and closed a section 363 sale of substantially all assets for consideration in excess of $75 million.
  • Counsel to the largest non-insider unsecured creditor and member of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the chapter 11 case of In re Lapeer Industries, Inc. (E.D. Mich.).

  • Insolvency & Creditors’ Rights
  • Bankruptcy Litigation
  • Debt Restructurings
  • Commercial Finance & Banking
  • DIP Financing
  • Corporate & Securities
  • Workouts & Restructurings
  • Litigation
  • Real Estate
  • Cannabis
  • University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, 2004, J.D.
  • Ner Israel Rabbinical College, 2001, BTL
  • Ohio
  • New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
  • Listed, The Best Lawyers in America®, Bankruptcy, Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, 2016-2025
  • Listed, Ohio Super Lawyers - Rising Stars, 2012-2013, 2015-2019
  • Recognized as an “Associate to Watch”, Chambers USA 2019, Bankruptcy/Restructuring in Ohio, Band 2
  • Next Generation Program of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, Class of 2012

Highlights

Articles and Presentations
August 31, 2022
Third-Party Releases in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy | Elliot M. Smith
July 10, 2019
State Legalized Marijuana Business and Access to the Bankruptcy Code
February 16, 2018
New Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure: Impact on Chapter 7, 12 and 13 Secured Creditors | Elliot M. Smith

View all

News
August 20, 2024
Elliot Smith Quoted in Crain's Cleveland Business | “Commercial bankruptcies are increasing — and there's more to come”
August 15, 2024
132 Benesch Attorneys Recognized in 2025 Best Lawyers® Rankings
August 23, 2023
Elliott Smith mentioned in Crain's Cleveland Business | "A corporate bankruptcy storm is brewing"

View all

  • 2025 Benesch
  • Disclaimers
  • Privacy Policy
  • Related Sites
  • GDPR Statement
  • Terms
  • Client Payment Portal
  • Careers
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn