Paul Hastings LLP

Global Managing Partner

Sherrese Smith is the Global Managing Partner of Paul Hastings. As Global Managing Partner, Sherrese plays a central role in directing the growth, management and strategy of the firm.

Consistently ranked as a Band 1 lawyer in Chambers USA, ranked by Legal 500 in multiple categories, and 2024 Managing Partner of the Year, Sherrese is recognized throughout the legal, media, communications and technology industries for her leadership, business acumen and dedication to clients. Sherrese also serves on the Board of Directors of two public companies, Gen (NASDAQ:GEN) and Cable ONE (NYSE: CABO), and as Chair of Northwestern University’s Law School Board.

Sherrese is renowned for superior advisement on strategic and crisis issues and, as a result, corporate board members and C-suite members regularly seek her advice and counsel when facing their most challenging situations. Corporate leaders rely on her business-grounded counsel developed from her unique experiences as a public company board member, regulator, and general counsel.

Sherrese is known as one of the country’s preeminent Data Privacy and Cybersecurity and Media and Technology attorneys and previously served as the Vice Chair of the firm’s Data Privacy and Cybersecurity practice.  She maintains an active practice advising clients throughout the technology, media, and telecommunications industries on strategic issues including complex transactions, regulatory investigations, artificial intelligence, and emerging technologies. Her work includes data privacy, cybersecurity and breach response issues, Artificial Intelligence and emerging technologies strategy and governance, regulatory investigations and enforcement proceedings, as well as counseling on global privacy and cybersecurity matters.

Before joining Paul Hastings, Sherrese served as Chief Counsel to Chairman Julius Genachowski at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). At FCC, she was responsible for determining the agency’s business and policy agenda on a multitude of media and technology matters and for leading the FCC’s cross‑agency efforts to refine and implement new rules on data privacy and cybersecurity for multinational companies navigating complex data and privacy rules in the U.S., EU and Asia. Sherrese’s work also involved extensive interaction with external stakeholders, including wireless, media, cable and telecommunications companies; industry groups and trade associations; federal and state agencies; and Congress.

Prior to joining the FCC in 2009, Sherrese was Vice President and General Counsel of Washington Post Digital. In this role, she oversaw all legal and policy matters across 10 different business units, garnering a unique and valuable perspective on in-house counsel needs and challenges.

Sherrese is a passionate advocate for meaningful causes. She provides legal support to Honored Schools, a program dedicated to celebrating exceptional educators, amplifying student voices and fostering a culture of consistent teacher appreciation within school communities. In addition, she has contributed her time and expertise to Sidwell Friends School’s A Night for Scholars, an initiative focused on raising financial aid for students in need.

Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, J.D., 1996 University of South Carolina, B.S. in Business Administration, 1993

Chambers USA, Media & Entertainment: Regulatory (2016-2022), Band 1 (2023-2025) Ranked Band 1 by Chambers USA in its 2025 edition among its leading Media & Entertainment: Regulatory lawyers. Clients note Sherrese is  “an excellent lawyer with excellent expertise in the regulatory space” and “an insightful advisor who is very responsive and offers a commanding voice in any storm.” In prior years, she has been recognized for being “pragmatic, client-focused and collaborative. She is creative in finding solutions to challenging and novel issues for her clients” and “extremely helpful, quick to respond and has an answer to every question we ask.” Ranked in Legal 500 in three categories for 2025: Telecom and Broadcast: Regulatory; Cyber Law (including Data Privacy and Data Protection); and Media and Entertainment: Litigation. Sources say: “Sherrese Smith is the avatar of the perpetually insightful advisor. She is perpetually in motion and responsive. She runs the firm and is her clients' first and last call on every issue and offers a commanding voice in any storm.” 2024 Managing Partner of the Year, Women, Influence & Power in Law Named among Savoy’s 2024 Most Influential Lawyers. Honoree of Washington Business Journal’s 13th Annual Minority Business Leader Awards, 2020. Member of the University of Maryland’s Journalism School board Member of the Board of Trustees of the German Marshall Fund of the United States; Influential Women in Communications Award. American Bar Association’s Women to Watch Award. Named an Outstanding In-House Counsel by the District of Columbia’s chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel. Financial Times’ Innovative Lawyers Award for Great Legal Ideas. (“A multi‑disciplinary team of lawyers was responsible for a series of ideas to create a model sharing agreement for the Federal Communications Commission’s auction of television spectrum, a first of its kind. Critical to creating successful contractual instrument was enabling broadcasters to share spectrum, foresee how future technologies would develop, and write these eventualities into the contract. Commended: Sherrese Smith.”)