Matthew H. Smith, GC, Kids II Inc., Atlanta. (Photo: John Disney/ALM)

Matt Smith received undergraduate and law degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, clerked for a federal appeals court judge and then worked at King & Spalding, handling trademark, patent and copyright issues, for about 2½ years.

Since he left the firm in 2005, Smith has served in top in-house legal posts—first at companies in the electric industry and now at Kids2, a baby product company where he is general counsel.

Smith agreed to answer the Daily Report's questions.

What prompted you to go to law school, and what kind of law did you think you'd want to practice?

Quite frankly, early on in my college career, I didn't know what my next step would be. I knew I wanted more education and always liked the debate and negotiation aspects of the legal field (my older brother and dad are lawyers as well), so I decided on law school. Staying in Chapel Hill for another three years of hoops wasn't bad either.

As to the type of practice, working summers at different law firms allowed me to explore the real world application of academia to practice. I liked the blend of law with technology, so I jumped into intellectual property litigation.

You clerked at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, then worked at King & Spalding for a couple of years. How did those roles lead to your going into in-house jobs at Comverge and Innovolt, which both provide technology for electrical products?

Working on the Fourth Circuit, then in the IP group at King & Spalding, allowed me to learn from some of the smartest judges and attorneys in the U.S. Both roles taught me to think outside-the-box and the need to fully understand the issues, whether deep diving on briefs at the Fourth Circuit or learning the client's business (i.e. the financial drivers, technological differentiation, competition, etc.).  At K&S, I represented Comverge in the early 2000s in IP litigation, and I worked regularly with Comverge's exec team, learned the business for the better part of three years and was asked to join the company as it ramped up for its IPO.

What led you to join Kids2, and what are your primary responsibilities there?

I initially didn't know much about Kids2, as it goes to market under the brands Baby Einstein, Ingenuity and BrightStarts, but was made aware of the opportunity and reached out to explore. It is one of the larger private companies in Atlanta—and after learning more about the business and team, I was pumped about the opportunity.

I joined to be a part of a top-notch executive team and because of the company's purpose, which is to make it easier for parents to create more "tiny wins" because bright futures should be in reach for every family. Kids2 has one owner—Ryan Gunnigle—who has worked at Kids2 for over 25 years. His passion for helping new parents is contagious. I have two kids of my own—and much appreciate Kids2's purpose and vision.

As to my responsibilities, I work collaboratively with the other execs on strategy, risk management, compliance and the typical host of legal issues—litigation, employment, contracts, regulatory work, etc., which are international in nature, as we manufacture and sell across the globe.

How big is your in-house legal team?

Our Kids2 legal team is lean and mean, with three other attorneys and two paralegals, where we split the legal work by function. Kerri Braun (deputy general counsel—IP/Litigation) and Cade Daniel (deputy general counsel—Commercial/Compliance) are my partners in the group. We each have our own swim lanes but also work cross-functionally to ensure Kids2's needs are met.

How often do you use outside counsel, and what firms do you tend to use and for what kinds of matters?

We communicate with and use outside counsel daily—ranging from sole practitioners to AmLaw 100 firms. We focus more on the individual lawyers at the firm versus the name on the firm door. International regulatory work, litigation and APAC/EU commercial deals have embodied the majority of our outside counsel matters in 2019.

Having worked in private practice and now for three companies in in-house roles, what have you seen as the keys to effective relationships between in-house and outside counsel?

Knowing the end-objective, setting clear budget/scope expectations and over-communicating are keys for effective relationships between counsel. No one likes surprises, so issue spotting and strategizing on the front end are important as well. We view our outside counsel as business partners—so we expect a knowledge of the Kids2 business.

How is the legal risk environment different between your previous two companies, which served businesses, and Kids2, which sells toys to children?

The risk environment at my last two companies—selling B2B demand management and electrical devices—-was more commercial in nature. Selling kids toys and gear is more regulatory driven. Selling juvenile consumer products requires strict compliance with a host of regulations which differ by territory. Fortunately, we have a robust product integrity/compliance team, which is top-notch in the industry. The legal and product integrity teams are integrated, where we work together daily to address issues and proactively drive process and prevention.