Overview
Josh Smith is Of Counsel in the Asset-Backed Finance practice at Paul Hastings and is based in the Firm’s San Francisco office.
Smith advises on commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (“C-PACE”) transactions, including program requirements, PACE assessments, capital markets, and ABS transactions. He also has experience in the fintech sector working with unsecured personal loans, secured automobile refinance loans, and point-of-sale finance loans. Before joining Paul Hastings, Smith worked as Vice President of Legal & Policy at one of the largest C-PACE originators, where he was responsible for transaction management and in-house capital markets work. Smith received his law degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law and served as a law clerk for the Honorable Scott A. Oravec, United States District Magistrate Judge for the District of Alaska. Smith received his B.A. in economics and political science from Loyola University Chicago.
Education
- McGeorge School of Law, J.D., 2010
- Loyola University Chicago, B.A., 2007
Representations
- Represented Achieve Lending in the sale and transfer of unsecured personal loans and debt consolidation loans, as well as in working to revise legal agreements and procedural safeguards for the protection of non-public personal information under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.
- Represented LendingClub Bank as part of its transformation as one of the first fintech companies to acquire a national bank charter and its operation of a loan investor marketplace.
- Represented Petros PACE Finance in multiple areas, including public policy, capital markets transactions, and hundreds of millions of dollars in commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy deals.
- Represented CleanFund Commercial PACE Capital in multiple transactions, including a $40 million seismic retrofit bond issuance, a $26 million financing of a new construction of a hotel, and one of the first 144a securitizations of commercial PACE assets.
Matters may have been completed before joining Paul Hastings.
Engagement & Publications
- Former Co-Chair of the PPA Working Group, Solar Energy Industry Association.
- Participates in panels regarding commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy Financing for PACE Nation, the C-PACE Alliance, and the Council of Development Finance Authorities.