2011 40 Under Forty: Joshua Lee Smith
ASSOCIATE, Bowditch & Dewey LLP
Company location: Worcester/ Framingham
Residence: Grafton
Favorite color: Black, which is still my predominant hair color; however my wife likes to point out the occasional white accents.
Age: 36
Career highlights: My law practice includes a variety of complex commercial real estate matters focusing primarily on acquisitions and dispositions, zoning, permitting, development and leasing. I work closely with public utility companies on projects involving the siting, upgrading, development and permitting of substations, high-voltage transmission lines and operation centers. I also represent colleges and universities and charitable organizations in the development, gifting, acquisition and disposition of commercial and residential properties.
Community involvement: Once a week during the summer I play softball for the Worcester County Bar Association (Defending champs!).
Less-sweaty activities include serving on the boards of Music Worcester Inc. and Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce; and the executive committee of the Babson Real Estate Career Affinity Group. I am also an active member of the Asian-American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts.
Biggest success: Being able to balance work and family. Simply put, I would not consider myself a successful attorney if I could not spend quality time with my wife and son.
Biggest challenge: Attorneys must manage their time well, and when it comes to billing time, many attorneys track time to the tenth of an hour. The matters on which we work will often times have multiple moving parts, so calendars, schedules and reminders must always be reviewed. Sometimes deadlines can be extended; however, missing a deadline in our profession can sometimes result in the extinguishment of a client’s rights.
Mentors: My closest mentors happen to be those folks who go out of their way to ask how I’m doing and what may be going on within or outside of the office. Many of these same individuals are also true technicians of the law whom I can tap for advice when faced with a complicated matter.
Hidden talent: I used to be pretty good at the violin, but my skills have eroded over time, so it is quite hidden these days.
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