Elizabeth "Booka" Smith

Elizabeth "Booka" Smith

Starrs Mihm LLP
707 Seventeenth Street, Ste. 2600
Denver, CO 80202
Contact Us

Phone: 303.592.5900
Fax: 303.592.5910

booka.smith@starrslaw.com
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Education: 
  • Mares-Dixon & Associates 40 Hour Mediation Training & Certificate, 2010
  • National Institute of Trial Advocacy, 2003
  • Cornell Law School, J.D., 1995
  • Bowdoin College, B.A., Magna Cum Laude, 1990
Practice Areas: 

Partner, Starrs Mihm LLP

Booka Smith heads the firm’s employment and wrongful discharge litigation practice. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Bowdoin College in 1990, where she was a NCAA Division II Alpine ski racer, soccer and lacrosse player. In 1995, she received her J.D. from Cornell University. She was the Chief Articles Editor for the Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy. After graduating from Cornell Law, Ms. Smith practiced commercial and employment litigation for several years in the Boston office of a large national law firm. Ms. Smith then returned home to Colorado and practiced with a Denver firm focusing again on commercial and employment litigation. Ms. Smith then practiced for one year in Dillon, Colorado with a firm specializing in ski area defense. Ms. Smith joined Starrs Mihm LLP in 2007.

Ms. Smith has represented and advised a wide variety of clients in the areas of commercial litigation, general civil litigation and employment law and litigation. As a litigator, Ms. Smith has made frequent appearances in federal and state courts, in arbitration and mediation, and before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Ms. Smith has also participated in numerous jury and bench trials as second chair and has tried several cases on her own as lead counsel, all ending in victories for the client. Ms. Smith has litigated and tried cases in the areas of employment, contract dispute, business torts, real estate, construction, bankruptcy, personal injury, and products liability. She is also a certified mediator. Ms. Smith still participates in USSA masters-level Alpine ski racing. She has represented many of Colorado’s ski resorts.

Ms. Smith is admitted to practice in both Colorado and Massachusetts.

Recent Trials and Cases of Note

  • Summer 2011: Booka Smith negotiated a significant severance package for a former high level executive employed in the public works sector who was terminated for health and disability related issues.
  • Summer 2011:  Booka Smith negotiated a severance package for a former director of a national sports association who was defamed and abruptly terminated for alleged non-performance. 
  • Elizabeth Starrs and Booka Smith recently represented a doctor in a breach of employment contract and fraudulent misrepresentation case.  The case settled prior to trial in favor of the doctor in a confidential amount.
  • Booka Smith recently settled a sexual harassment and discrimination case arising under Title VII, the ADA and the FMLA for a confidential amount.  The Plaintiff was a former sales representative for a major food distributor. 
  • Elizabeth Starrs and Booka Smith recently represented a high level telecommunications executive in a breach of employment agreement case in Virginia.  The case settled for a confidential amount in favor of the executive before trial.
  • Booka Smith and Michael Mihm represented a husband and wife in a personal injury action in which the husband was catastrophically injured in a construction crane accident, Paul Snow and Patrece Snow vs. RMS Cranes, et al. Ms. Smith and Mr. Mihm settled our clients’ claims for $2.785 million shortly before trial.
  • Michael Mihm and Booka Smith defended the owners of a start-up energy conservation company in a lawsuit brought by a former business partner who claimed that our clients had misappropriated his business opportunities. Mr. Mihm and Ms. Smith also pursed a legal malpractice case against a lawyer who had advised our clients that they could take the business opportunity. The case settled for a confidential amount from the lawyer before trial.

Publications

  • “Documenting Staff Performance”, National Ski Areas Association Journal, February/March 2007, Vol. 15, Issue 1.
  • “Job Interviews: What You Can and Can’t Ask – Tips for Minimizing Risk in the Hiring Process”, National Ski Areas Association Journal, August/September 2005, Vol. 13, Issue 4.

Professional Associations

  • Colorado Bar Association
  • Colorado Plaintiff Employment Lawyers Association
  • Colorado Women’s Bar Association
  • Colorado Trial Lawyers’ Association
  • National Plaintiff Employment Lawyers Association

Lectures and Speaking Engagements

  • Panelist: National Ski Area Association Sponsored “Managers’ Round Table on Employment Law and Human Resources Issues”; March 7, 2006, Squaw Valley, California.
  • Lecturer: “Employment Law Overview: Tips for Minimizing Risk in Hiring and Other Employment Processes”; August 17, 2005, The Rietz Law Firm, Dillon, Colorado.

In addition, Ms. Smith has conducted numerous in-house employment law lectures and seminars for existing clients. Topics covered include a wide variety of employment law issues.

Bar Admissions

  • Massachusetts, 1996
  • Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, 1997
  • Colorado, 1999
  • United States District Court for the District of Colorado, 1999

Contact Elizabeth "Booka" Smith