Judy Smith

When a news story breaks and an individual or corporation becomes enmeshed in a scandal, Judy Smith is routinely consulted to help mitigate crises and manage the news. Using her keen insight to examine all of the facts, she develops an action plan that time and again alleviates the pressure on her high-profile clients.

As the founder and president of Smith & Company — a leading strategic and crisis communications firm with offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. — Smith uniquely combines her communication skills, media savvy, and legal and political acumen to serve clients around the world. She is also the real-life inspiration behind the hit TV Show Scandal.

Smith honed her skills managing some of the most historic and sensational events of our time, including the Iran Contra investigation, the prosecution of former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, the 1991 Gulf War, the Los Angeles riots, the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Justice Clarence Thomas, President Clinton’s scandal involving Monica Lewinsky, the congressional inquiry of Enron, the United Nations’ and World Health Organization’s responses to the SARS epidemic, and most recently the cyber-attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment. She is the author of Good Self, Bad Self: Transforming Your Worst Qualities Into Your Biggest Assets and she frequently appears on major television networks such as CNN, MSNBC, FOX News, ABC, NBC and CBS to offer commentary on topical issues of the day.

Internationally, she has provided counsel to heads of state and executives of major corporations in the Philippines, Haiti, Turks and Caicos Islands, Jamaica, and Saudi Arabia, where she assisted the Kingdom’s leadership with its communication strategy during the War on Terror.

On the home front she has advised Fortune 500 companies including Wal-Mart, BellSouth, Union Pacific, Starwood Hotels and United Healthcare and consulted with individuals such as Paula Deen, Monica Lewinsky, Idaho senator Larry Craig, Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., actor Wesley Snipes, and NFL quarterback Michael Vick.