W. Roger Smith, III

Roger is a Shareholder at Beasley Allen. He has been a member of our Mass Torts Division for 10 years. While at Beasley Allen, Roger has served as Lead Attorney in numerous cases and has worked to achieve the successful resolution of thousands of pharmaceutical cases. In his short 10 years at Beasley Allen, Roger has overseen litigations involving Rezulin, Serzone, Ephedra, PPA, various herbal supplements, Vioxx, Gadolinium, and Fleet Oral Phosphosoda. For many years, Roger’s primary focus was the Vioxx litigation, where he served as a member of the Vioxx team that successfully negotiated the 4.85 billion Vioxx global settlement.

Roger currently oversees our Actos litigation involving claims of bladder cancer resulting from Actos use. Roger also oversees our Yaz/Yasmin/Ocella oral birth control litigation involving claims of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis or other VTE. In his capacity as our Yaz lead attorney, Roger is serving on the Trial Selection Committee for the Pennsylvania Coordinated Yaz/Yasmin/Ocella Litigation, where he works closely with attorneys nationally to prosecute Yaz claims in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. Roger also litigates nursing home cases and is our go-to lawyer when a client is injured due to an herbal supplement.

Roger is a licensed attorney in Alabama, Mississippi, Arizona, Tennessee, Minnesota, and West Virgina. He is an active member of the Alabama State Bar. He was recently re-appointed to the Alabama State Bar Character and Fitness Committee for 2011-2012. In past years he has served on the Task Force on Multi-jurisdictional Practice. He is currently a member of the Paralegal Studies Advisory Committee, Auburn Montgomery.

Roger also has been selected for inclusion on the 2012 Best Lawyers in America list, published by U.S. News & World Report.

Roger is married to Claudia C. Kennedy, of Vestavia Hills, Alabama. They have three beautiful little girls -- Sarah Kennedy, Caroline Cecilia, and Sophia Clare -- and two striking dogs -- CocoSally (a chocolate lab) and Johnnie Cash (a Scottie). Roger’s spare time is usually spent watching a soccer game or traveling to one. If he has any extra time beyond that, he enjoys exercising and playing tennis and has recently discovered climbing and dragon boat racing!