W. Mark Smith is a partner at Sutherland. Since 1981, Mark has advised clients on tax, ERISA and other issues related to retirement, executive compensation, insurance, cafeteria and other employee benefit plans. He is engaged on behalf of plan sponsors, insurance companies, investment advisers and managers, broker-dealers, consulting firms and other service providers for a range of consulting, transactional, regulatory and litigation matters. Prior to joining Sutherland, Mark clerked for then Chief Judge Clement Haynsworth of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He served as the 1991–1992 Chair of the Employee Benefits Committee of the American Bar Association Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section and for several years as a delegate to the ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits. Mark serves on the board of directors of the D.C. Bar Foundation and has served on the advisory boards of several programs and publications, including the Georgetown Corporate Counsel Institute. He has made more than 70 presentations to a variety of audiences and contributed to more than 25 articles and books. Mark is recognized in The Best Lawyers in America, 2005–2007, in Employee Benefits Law, and is a Fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel.