Robert Forman Smith

I have held a number of senior positions in both the legal and business sectors. I have worked extensively in both corporate law and business development, focusing on M&A activity, technology agreements, and complex commercial transactions.

Most recently, I was Vice President and General Manager of Thomson Delphion, a web-based patent information business that is part of The Thomson Corporation. Delphion began as a spin-off from IBM in 2000, with funding by Internet Capital Group. I was one of the initial employees of Delphion, serving as its General Counsel and Vice President, Administration. Delphion was one of a small handful of web-based information sites that successfully transitioned from a "free" to "fee" business model during the recent technology down-turn. I became the General Manager of the business just prior to its acquisition by Thomson in December, 2002.

From 1991 to 2000, I worked at senior legal positions in Motorola, Inc., Baxter International Inc. and Caremark International Inc. At Caremark, I led the legal team that managed the team defending Caremark against a federal fraud investigation and, while Acting General Counsel, negotiated the acquisition of Caremark by MedPartners, Inc.

From 1988 to 2001, I was an associate at McDermott, Will & Emery, working on corporate transactions. I also served as an infantry officer in the US Marine Corps from 1975 until 1986.

I graduated cum laude from University of Michigan Law School in 1988, and received a BS with honors in Urban Planning from the University of Virginia in 1975.