Maura Abeln Smith joined the U.S. team of McAllister Olivarius in 2025. She is licensed to practice in New York, Connecticut, Tennessee and Florida, and is admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Maura began her career as an associate at Steel Hector & Davis, and then became a partner in the international law firm of Baker & McKenzie, where her practice was primarily focused on banking and transactional work. In 1991, she joined General Electric Company as the general counsel of GE Plastics, and was later appointed a GE vice president. After GE, Maura assumed progressively increasing responsibilities as the chief legal officer of four public companies: Owens Corning, International Paper, PepsiCo, and Delhaize Group (now Ahold Delhaize). In 2016, Maura formed her own law firm, Maura A. Smith Law Offices LLC, and became an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association.
Over the course of her career, Maura has gained deep knowledge of corporate law. She advised CEOs and boards of directors on corporate strategy, including acquisitions, divestitures and mergers, cross-border transactions and joint ventures, led internal investigations, and managed significant litigation and compliance matters. In her last general counsel assignment, she led global legal, compliance, government affairs, information security, internal audit, risk management, loss prevention and claims management teams. More recently, she has focused her attention on alternative dispute resolution, and represents executives who have been wrongfully terminated from employment, or who faced discrimination in the workplace related to their health conditions, gender and age. She has also represented business owners seeking to sell their firms or to resolve pressing partnership disputes, as well as individuals embroiled in complex divorce proceedings, utilizing her strong financial training and knowledge of executive compensation. Her family law practice and litigation experience was greatly enhanced by her multi-year association with Edward Nusbaum, a prominent matrimonial lawyer in Westport, Connecticut.
Maura has also devoted her time and energy to support pro bono legal initiatives, serving as a Commissioner on the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission, and participating in law school virtual legal aid clinics. She was instrumental in the establishment of BluePath Service Dogs, Inc., a not-for-profit company that has, since 2016, provided trained service dogs to children with autism, and currently serves on its board of directors.
Maura attended Vassar College, graduating with highest honors, and Oxford University where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar and earned an M.Phil. in economics. Maura was then awarded a John M. Olin Fellowship in Law & Economics at the University of Miami School of Law, where she received her J.D., with honors, and taught economics in the university’s business school.