Jim Smith

Founding Partner

Jim is a founding partner of Smith Hurst, PLC. Smith Hurst, PLC was recognized as Start Up Business of the Year by the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas Chamber of Commerce in 2012 and as Small Business of the Year in 2014.  It is a Tier 1 rated Law Firm in Arkansas in the fields of Mergers and Acquisitions, Corporate Law, Real Estate Law, Tax Law and Trusts and Estates by Best Law Firms in America and Chambers and Partners USA.
From August of 2020 through August of 2022, Jim worked in the C-Suite of Good Day Farm, LLC, a medical marijuana multi-state operator initially serving as chief general legal counsel and director of mergers and acquisitions and concluding his tenure as President of Business. During his tenure at Good Day Farm, the company grew from its initial, prefunded concept stage start-up company to successfully raising and deploying in excess of $350 million and employing over 1,000 employees in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Missouri. Good Day Farm is currently the leading medical marijuana owner and operator of fully vertically integrated cultivation and dispensary facilities in each of these states.
For over twenty years, Jim has served as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Arkansas School of Law where he currently teaches the Law of Venture Capital Investing and has previously taught courses in the fields of Mergers and Acquisitions, Securities Regulation, Private Equity Investing, and Corporate Practice Ethics.

Community Involvement Arkansas Economic Development Commission

Serves in his second term as a Commissioner.

Board of Trustees of Arkansas Tech University

Member of the Board of Trustees. Served as Chairman in 2023.

University of Arkansas Technology Development Foundation

Serves on the Executive Committee, which is responsible for managing and operating the Arkansas Research and Technology Park.

Arkansas Venture Capital Forum

Served on the Executive Committee of and as the co-chairman.

Tax Section of the Arkansas Bar Association

Chairman

Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce

Former Chairman and Member of the Board of Directors

University of Arkansas School of Law

Serves as an instructor teaching courses in the law of Mergers and Acquisitions, Securities Regulation, Corporate Practice Ethics, and Private Equity Investing.

Priority Bank Board of Directors

Member of the Board of Directors

Jim is also a member of the Board of Directors of The House of Songs, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation based in Bentonville, Arkansas and Austin, Texas which has the mission of uniting musicians from around the world.

Education

New York University School of Law

Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Taxation (1995)

University of Arkansas School of Law

Juris Doctor, cum laude (1994)

• Arkansas Law Review , Member

Arkansas Tech University

Bachelor of Science, Accounting, cum laude (1991)

• Recipient of 1991 Wall Street Journal Award as the Top Student in the School of Business
• Member, 1988 AIC Champion Baseball Team

  License

  Licensed Certified Public Accountant

  (Registered Inactive)

  Jim is also a Graduate of VC University, a joint initiative of the National Venture Capital Association, Berkeley Law Executive Education, and Venture Forward.